Dark Places
by Phantom's-Apprentice96
Summary: Presumed dead for over a year, 16 year old Danny Fenton has finally escaped The Facility: A hellish 'research' prison run by soulless government agents. But has he really left the troubles of his imprisonment behind? Or will the monsters that continue to pursue him finally finish the job? High T, Low M. Rated for dark themes such as Torture, Murder, and Insanity.
1. Dark Places

**Summary: **Danny has been captured and imprisoned by the GIW for reasons yet unknown. He is completely cut off from the outside world, and in junction of dealing with whatever tortures the agents can throw at him, Danny is forced to withhold the secret of his identity to not only preserve his chances of survival, but that of his family, friends and other associates as well. While his mental and physical condition slowly deteriorates, so to does his self control, and in light of a uncharacteristic decision, is inexplicably granted freedom. But just when Danny thinks he has left the horrors of his imprisonment behind him, a series of events uncover the GIW's true intentions, along with the realisation that Danny's imprisonment was so much more than a mere act of vengeance.

Now Danny must fight to protect those who helped him, avoid capture, confront old enemies, and corrupt the plans of a ghost-hating psychopath; all the while trying to distinguish the difference between reality and nightmare as his world begins to fall apart. As his sanity begins to crumble away and the line between right and wrong blurs, Danny starts to learn that sometimes, in order to protect the lives of the ones you love the most, sacrifices must be made; and that sometimes, to survive, you have to not run from, but _embrace _the Dark Places that taint our consciences.

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**IMPORTANT: In case you didn't get it from the summary, this story is not going to be one of those happy, humorous, make you feel all gooey inside type stories filled with Mary sues and happy endings. This is just a glimpse into my messed up imagination, and I warn you, it's not exactly pretty. The rating of this story, I would suspect, is a very high 'T' or a low 'M', due to themes of Insanity, Torture, Blackmail, Murder, More Insanity, Possible Cussing, Violence, along with other, less notable things. I would advise not reading on if any of the things described above are going to be in any way offencive to you, since that is definitely not my intention. Story is told through 1****st****person, and is mostly from Danny's POV, save for a very few exceptions scattered throughout. The following takes place after the events of My brother's keeper and The Ultimate Enemy, but entirely ignores Phantom Planet; so the only humans that know Danny's secret are Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.**

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**DARK PLACES**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96**

**Chapter 1**

**'Dark Places'**

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**Awareness is the enemy of sanity; for once you hear the screaming, it never stops.**

― Emilie Autumn

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I lay on my back, letting the coolness of the concrete seep into me. It soothed, chasing away some of the stress and fear that seemed to be the only component in my life these days.

If this even counted as a living.

My glowing green eyes opened and looked up at the ceiling, my body yearning to be outside in the night air. _Or was it day now?_ I could never tell in here; it's like this room was built to be a sensual deprivement chamber. I can't say I'd be very surprised, all things considered.

It's not like it mattered any more. They had already broken me; chipped away at me like a block of ice until they'd sculpted the perfectly placid (if not somewhat defiant) shadow of who I used to be. Their job was done, a little too well. These security measures were really only to humour their superiors; or perhaps to make sure I never got my hopes up... They didn't have to worry though, I'd already learnt that lesson a long time ago.

I remember a time when I used to hope. Hope that these people would show a little mercy, hope that one day I'd escape back to my family... hope that maybe, one day, I'd be rescued. Hope that my innocence and humanity wouldn't die in this room. But hope was just another torture, brought on by ourselves; and I already had enough torture to withstand without inflicting it on myself, so I'd done the only thing I could do, and cut it out of my life altogether.

The other pains, the ones I couldn't avoid, were worth it, though. I knew they were worth it, because if I didn't find a way to cope with the physical pain of torture, I'd be forced to deal with the emotional pain of losing everyone I loved. The only way to stop the pain was to give the monsters what they wanted... and what they wanted was a price I wasn't willing to pay at any cost; not even if it meant losing my life. My life wouldn't have any worth anyway, if I were to tell the monsters what they wanted. They'd hurt my family, my friends, _everyone._.. until I had nothing left. The only option was to stay quiet and hope that death would claim me soon, preferably _before_ I completely lost my mind.

My hands were stretched out by my sides, my fingers tracing random patterns in the concrete. I froze, thinking I heard quiet footsteps approaching the door, but after a second I dismissed my fears and continued my long acquainted habit.

I didn't know how long it had been since one of the monster -or Agents, depending on where you were standing- had come to my cell to collect me for 'questioning'. It was awfully hard to keep track of time in here, being trapped in a windowless cell and all. The only way to measure time in here was to count my breaths; but I'd stopped bothering with breathing a long time ago. It wasn't necessary, so why bother?

The 'questionings' had started becoming less frequent, although they still persisted; always trying to understand how I'd come to be. They weren't _completely_ incompetent; they knew something about me wasn't normal, but they didn't seem to be all that bright, either... considering it'd been here over a year and they still hadn't figure it out yet.

_Sure_, the level of torture had begun to yield, but it was apparent that the Agents hadn't given up yet, or they probably would have disposed of me already.

Though, granted, disposing of me had proved rather difficult. I had sustained many injuries over my stay here, and sometimes, when I _really_ got on the torturer's nerves, they would hurt me a little too much, and it would almost kill me. Never quite enough, it seemed, thanks to my supernatural healing abilities.

I did have some pretty cool scars, though.

A big one, shaped like a 'Y' on my stomach where they had performed a short vivisection, was probably the biggest. My fingers traced the scar now, and I grinned; remembering that day with crystal clarity. I'd fought back that day; wrecked all the equipment, trashed the room and knocked two guys unconscious before they'd managed to sedate me. That day had marked my first true act of defiance, the first day they had truly begun fearing me.

The day I had lost all hope.

I had known then that wasn't going home. I was going to die here, I knew that now. I had accepted it, even. Maybe the monsters were right, maybe I was too dangerous to be allowed to roam free like I once had.

Did they miss me, my family? Obviously not. They obviously didn't care enough to rescue me. They'd probably already forgotten who I was. Just palmed me off as another runaway.

Danny Fenton; the kid who is just gone.

I sighed. _Was I even Danny Fenton any more?_ Maybe I was just Phantom. I hadn't changed into Fenton for so long now I wasn't sure I could even remember how to. It had been difficult at first, trying to avoid reverting back to human form; but I had managed. It had gotten so much easier, too.

Maybe that's because I'm dead. Maybe my human half died due to lack of food and water, or maybe my human half wasn't strong enough to withstand all the tortures.

...Maybe.

Is that why it didn't hurt any more? The loss of my friends and family, the loss of pretty much my whole life... it wasn't painful to me any more. _This_ was my life now; this cold, dark cell and the occasional trips to the interrogation room. It was all I had.

This time, I did hear footsteps coming closer. I sat bolt right in anticipation, watching the door as the lock clicked and it was pushed open.

I grinned and stood up, walking over to the door as was standard procedure. My eyes took a second to adjust to the light, but once they did I realised it was my old friend, the Agent I had dubbed 'Tiny', truly ironic considering his outrageously muscular frame. He looked like he could fold me in half, then proceed to turn me into a little origami ghost; if such a delicate art were even known by such a vile man. He much rather seemed to me like the type of man who boiled live puppies as a hobby.

This man had single handedly given me at least half of my permanent scars that now covered my body. I feared him, but he was also my favourite one of the agents to tick off. He feared me, but he wouldn't admit to it. Regardless to say we got on like a house on fire.

Ha. A house on fire. What a joke. The relationship between a house and a fire was severely misinterpreted. One of them was burnt to the ground, while the other soon fizzled out after consuming everything remotely combustible. Unless the firemen arrived on time, then the fire fizzled out anyway, and the house was left half dead, not to mention, soaked.

So yeah, the term 'like a house on fire' described mine and Tiny's relationship well, because in the end, neither of us won.

"Hey, Tiny. What's on the agenda for today? Electric shocks? Burning? What about the hallucination drugs again? You haven't used them in a while..." I said casually, holding out my hands for him so handcuff.

He clicked the handcuffs on without a word, placed a firm hand on my shoulder and began guiding me down the hall.

I chuckled. "Had a bad day, Tiny? Yeah, I know how you feel... but I have to admit, it's been nice not having to see your ugly mug around for a while." I smiled to myself.

The hand on my shoulder gripped tighter, and he swung me around to face him before letting his fist fly into my face, sending me falling backwards and hitting my head on the wall. I slid down the wall, holding my hand to my face and pulling it away, stained bright green.

I looked up at him and smiled from where I sat. "Wow, from this angle, you're even uglier." I exclaimed cheerily.

He then continued to kick me twice in the ribs, and from a quick inspection, he'd broken at least one. No matter, it'll heal within about twenty minutes anyway, and due to the constant 'questionings' I had developed an extremely high pain threshold.

I wouldn't have survived otherwise.

He reached down and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me roughly to my feet. I complied; keeping a cheery attitude the whole time because I knew it infuriated him to no end.

We continued down the hall until we reached the right room, he opened it, and shoved me inside before turning around and closing the door behind him.

"Where to, Tiny?" I asked, gesturing around the room.

He grabbed my shoulder and flung me in the direction of one of the chairs with the restraints attached, so I continued forward and sat, looking up at him with a cheerful expression.

"So, I was right! Electrocution... can't say it's one of my favourites. I much prefer the drugs, much more... entertaining." I said sheepishly. To be honest, at one stage, they had actually used the drugs too much, and they'd been forced to stop because I was slowly becoming addicted to them. I had had to go through an unpleasant withdrawal, all the while begging for them to give them to me before I killed them all to get it. The drugs were supposed to make you see your worst fears come to life, but I was already living in a personal hell; I hadn't needed drugs to show me that. So essentially, the drugs had just made me trip out; which had been my primary source of entertainment... at least before they had taken that away from me, too.

Tiny grunted, seemingly not finding my joke funny. He removed my cuffs and tightened the straps over my wrists.

"You know what? I've had enough of you and your smart mouth. I'd bet you wouldn't be so cocky if I told you the boss and his team have finally tracked down your family, would you, wise guy?" he said greedily.

My expression dramatically changed, going from artificially happy to as dark storm cloud. "Your bluffing." I growled.

He grinned at me manically. "Could be, but there wouldn't be much point now, would there?"

I growled at him, baring my teeth.

"Yeah, the boss went and paid a visit to the Fentons the other day, just chasing up some leads, you know. Let's just say, he made some interesting discoveries. Might actually be getting somewhere in our investigations, no thanks to you..." he said, turning his back to me and fiddling with the machine that controlled how violently I was shocked.

In retrospect, turning your back on a homicidal ghost after you've just threatened his family isn't a good idea. It could even, say, get you killed.

My eyes narrowed, and I summoned all the energy I could from the very depths of my core, making it flow into my hands. I let it congeal there, and then let it seep out of my skin to cover my hands, letting it creep upward until it covered my wrists as well. I then made it intensify, effectively disintegrating the restrains on my wrists. It hurt a little, due to the fact that they were _supposed_ to be ghost proof.

I had known how to achieve this ever since the vivisection, but I had never had enough reason to use it until now. I knew that if I revealed my ability to escape, new measures would be put in place to make sure I couldn't do it again, so I needed to save it for a time when I really needed it.

I glanced around the room, suddenly hyper aware of the lack of guards. Usually there would be five or so agents in the room during questionings, just in case I got out of control. I guess all this time of being reasonably unaggressive in questionings had caused them to drop their guard.

I grinned;_ Perfect; No witnesses. _

I swiftly got to my feet, creeping up to the man who had his back to me and standing on my tiptoes so I could whisper in his ear.

"_Goodnight._"

My hands formed a needle sharp icicle that thickened into the shape of a cone, as long as my forearm, and plunged it through the centre of his back. His whole body went ridged, his hands clutched to his chest and began clawing away at the fabric as if to try and dislodge the obstruction. Blood seeped from both ends, staining his perfectly pressed white suit.

He collapsed on the ground, and I watched as the icicle melted into the blood which had begun pooling out around him, making it look too thin, like the blood they used in horror movies. I stared for a moment in satisfaction, but then decided to leave before someone discovered his body.

As I reached the door, I made a plan. I would die today, either as punishment or in battle. May as well take as many of these bastards out with me as I possibly could, right? Maybe this way, with me out of the picture and nothing for them to gain, the Agents would leave my loved ones alone.

I opened the door, turning invisible before I did so, and stepped out of the room, closing the door with a soft click. I couldn't phase through anything in this building, they had never told me why, either. I guess it must be built out of some kind of ectoranium, or at least be contaminated with it, since that was the only thing I'd come across which I couldn't phase through besides an all out ghost shield.

Once I was out in the hall, I started off in the opposite direction of my cell. The hall opened up into a large room here, and there were three different doors lined up against the far wall. I walked over to the closest one and opened it, preparing to shoot at anyone inside. It turned out to be a weapons room, equipped with all kinds of guns and armour. Nobody was inside, so I left, closing the door behind me. As I closed the door, an alarm sounded all through the building, and after less than thirty seconds, agents were swarming all over the place and yelling to one another over the piercing siren.

I backed up against a wall and stayed invisible, praying that they wouldn't find me. I caught snippets of their panicked exchanges, trying to understand what was happening,

"...destroyed the exterior defences..."

"...secure the prisoners! Don't let them escape..."

"... arm yourselves! Everyone is needed outside!"

I stayed inconspicuous, reasoning with myself that I couldn't take on this many of them and staying out of sight. After the time frame of about five minutes, the shouts of the distressed humans had disappeared out one of the doors to my left, probably to contain one of the prisoners after they'd tried to escape. It had happened before, of course. They never got away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and decided to get as far from the hoard of agents as I could. Whoever had tried to escape had successfully taken their attention elsewhere... Surely I could find a few agents to fry that had stayed behind to guard?

I took a step towards the hall, but was interrupted when an agent burst through the door they had all just disappeared out of, and sprinted down the hall that led to my cell. I frowned, caught off guard by the obviously desperate man. I shot one last look at the door and began stalking after him. _This man was alone, I could easily take him out in a matter of seconds..._

I watched in confusion as the hooded man (he was dressed in the uniform of one of the agents that guarded the perimeter of the facility. Their uniforms were slightly different and designed to withstand cold weather) frantically pulled out a scrunched up piece of paper and began hastily studying it, looking up at the surrounding rooms and shaking his head before running off again, closer yet in the direction of my cell. The only reason I didn't kill him then and there was because my curiosity got the best of me; I wanted to know what this man seemed so desperate to achieve. To my utter confusion, the man ignored all the other doors that may have been of interest and headed straight to my cell door, glancing at the paper again and back at the door number, 57.

Then, with a sigh, he gripped the door and thrust it open, then began scanning the room for me. I held my breath, waiting for his angry reaction when he realised I had escaped. I watched as his shoulders slumped, and he turned back before walking disappointedly out of the room. "Butter biscuits!" he exclaimed, throwing the paper on the floor, preparing to grind it under foot.

I froze, head snapping up at the familiar voice and the phrase that came with it. There was only one person I knew that shouted the names of foods as profanities... but there was no way...

_I was imagining this..._

_... It couldn't be him..._

_...I've truly lost my mind..._

_...haven't I?..._

My invisibility slipped from me as I floated there, shell-shocked.

"...Vlad?" I whispered.

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**A/N: **

**TA DA! :D**

**Well, there we have it. I hope I did ok setting up the scene... getting the right amount of emotion into this without making it seem over the top was harder than expected, but I think it turned out ok. I'd advise reading this story carefully, or else you might miss a clue or something and not understand what's going on. :D**

**Reviews are cherished, as always. **

**02/09/12 EDIT: Just wanted to fix a few errors, fix the line breaks, ect. I added a summary, too. :P**


	2. Rescue

**DARK PLACES**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96 **

**Chapter 2**

**'Rescue'**

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_We're all our own demons as well as our saviours; fighting to rescue ourselves from ourselves._

**-Unknown**

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The figure's head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and after a split second of being frozen, the man threw himself at me, grabbing me around the shoulders tighter than I thought possible.

"_No! Get away from me_!" I hissed, trying to twist my way out of the agents restraining grip. _I was not going back in there... I'd gladly die trying..._

The arms restricting me quickly disappeared, and a hand came down over my mouth, effectively silencing me. His other hand flew to his hood and removed it, revealing grey hair and midnight blue eyes. Vlad.

But...

I staggered backwards, eyes widening in disbelief.

"Daniel! Oh thank goodness... are you injured? Are you.. Daniel, why weren't you in your cell?" he gushed.

I held my hand to my forehead. _Please let this be real... I don't want to be crazy any more... I just want to get out of here..._

They did come for me.

They do care.

Hope erupted in the pit of my stomach, and part of me tied to suppress it like I had for so long, but this... actually seeing this...

I was going to live.

"..You...came..." I breathed, dumbfounded.

His eyes saddened, probably because of the disbelieving tone of my voice.

"It's ok now, Daniel. I'm taking you home now, you're going to get through this." He said. "Now that I've found you, we need to sneak out of here, ok? The agents aren't exactly pleased that I'm taking you back." He gave me a wry smile.

I nodded. "I-I saw you come in..." I gasped. "Oh god... I could have killed you!"

"What?

"I... don't worry... we need to.. get out, now." I said, taking the lead down the hall. I heard his footsteps behind me, but I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure he was still there, and that I wasn't imagining this whole thing.

Maybe they _had_ given me the drugs again...

Vlad grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me to face him. I yelped and jumped away, expecting a blow to the face. I cringed, realising how much I had just over reacted. "S-sorry, I-I didn't remember..."

Vlad had a hurt look on his face. "You... you thought I was going to hit you?" he asked darkly.

I nodded, then tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

Vlad just stared at me for a moment before sighing. "I was just going to let you know... I didn't come here alone..."

My face lit up. "My family's here?"

"Err, no... actually. I called in some favours from some of the ghost zone's residents... so don't go shooting at them when we get outside, tonight they're your allies." He explained.

My face fell again, but I realised this was good news; I wouldn't want my family here anyway... too dangerous.

Then I started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked nervously.

I smiled. "I haven't seen the sunlight since I've been here..." I explained happily, "...I'm a little exited."

This made him frown deeper. _What? Wasn't he happy for me?_

"Actually, Danny, It's night time now. You'll have to wait for that." He said sadly.

"Oh. That's ok." I assured him.

Why did he still look so sad?

"Daniel, once we get out there, I don't know what's going to happen," he said, gripping the door handle, "but promise me, you'll do as I say, ok?" he eyed me warily.

I frowned. "...Ok?..."

He thrust open the door and stepped out, I followed close behind.

The first thing I noticed was the full moon, shining brightly down from the sky. It was beautiful, shockingly so, that it took me a second to take in my other surroundings. My other surroundings were almost as beautiful, I concluded. Agents, all dressed in similar clothing to Vlad, were scattered out around the facility, ducking and weaving their way through their fallen comrades. They shot blindly at the sky, not one of them hitting their targets that flew, dodged and shouted in angry, familiar voices, firing back at the humans lazily. Their voices filled me with a sense of nostalgia, each one triggering a memory of the days before I'd been captured. I saw a flash of light coming from behind me, and I spun around thinking I was being attacked, but it was only Vlad, shifting from human to ghost form.

He looked around and put his fingers to his mouth, letting out a loud whistle as if he was signalling someone. I looked to him for an answer, but before I could question his actions I heard the sound of approach. I spun around to face Ember, who was standing before me with a smug grin on her face. "Good to see ya, Dip-stick." She said, arms crossing over her chest in an almost defensive manner.

Vlad cleared his voice. "Ember, take Daniel to the rendezvous point, Daniel, go with Ember, and for god's sake, don't rip each other's heads off before we all get back, understand?" he said, eyeing me in particular.

I frowned. "But- you need help! I can help you..."

"Danny, go! You're in no condition to fight." With that, he took off in the direction of the battle.

I glared after him, about to take to the air and follow before I felt a restraining hand on my shoulder.

"Oh no you don't. You're coming with me, kid," she said, turning me around so I was looking at her. "Come on, relax, those government drones are outmatched, both in numbers and fire-power; this will be over quickly. There's no point exerting yourself for no reason..." she said.

"But Ember, you don't understand-"

She frowned. "Kid, if there's one thing I understand, it's revenge. But I also know that you're the kind of person that would beat yourself up about it later. Now come on, before you do something you regret, and before Vlad rips my head off for not getting you away from here." She said, tugging at my shoulder.

I sighed and nodded, suddenly feeling defeated. She took to the air and I followed, my mood suddenly lifted from the sensation of flying. "Where are we going?" I asked.

She shrugged. "About a half mile from here. Vlad ordered us to meet back here once we'd busted you out and we give the agents the slip. That fight back there was just to distract them while Vlad snuck in and got you out. They should be along shortly." She said, then "Only humans can get inside the facility, that is, unless they're ecto-signiture has been keyed into the security module. That's why Vlad had to go in alone, and why we had to take the fight outside."

The facility was surrounded by thick forest, which provided excellent coverage for our retreat. We darted through the trees and shrubs, Ember taking the lead. It was over too soon, and she came to a sudden stop when we reached a large clearing.

"Well, nothing left to do now but wait, I guess." She said, shrugging again before sitting down on the ground.

I followed her lead, sitting down about six feet from her. I felt so overwhelmed, everything that had happened in the course of a single hour... I'd never even thought possible. An hour ago, I'd been sitting in my cell, waiting to die. But now... I'd been rescued... not by my loved ones but by the people I used to hunt.

I was so confused.

"So, uh... kid, do ya' wanna talk about it? I mean, Vlad was worried that you might not be..." she trailed off. "...the same."

I flopped onto my back, stretching my arms out as far as I could. "I'm fine."

It was such a lie. _'Fine'_ was the opposite of what I was right now. I'll probably never be _'fine'_ again.

"Ok..." she murmured, sounding doubtful.

The sky was cloudy; so no stars were visible to me from this position. That made me sad. "Ember? Why did you come? Who else is here? _Why are they here?" _I asked, voice wavering slightly.

She sighed. "Well... I guess... we all kinda missed you. It's not as fun terrorising Amity' any more; it's just too easy without you there meddling..." she laughed. "... Vlad has been looking for you for a long time kiddo... he thought one of _us_ had finally gotten to you. He hunted us down one by one and all but ripped the ghost zone apart looking for you... gotta admit, the guy's determined."

I contemplated this. "How did he find me?"

"Well, I'll tell you what I know. Apparently, some of those agents came to your house looking for leads... they seemed desperate. They had hoped that the Fenton's had some information on your identity, but they came up empty. Your sister called Vlad, told him there'd been some weird men over asking for information on you, and he decided to chase it up. She also said that they'd shown interest in Danny Fenton's disappearance, which ultimately got them kicked out of the house by your father. Vlad discovered their organisation and that they had captured you over a year ago, and that you were now being held captive here indefinitely. He gathered up as many of us as he could to help, and focused on a way to get you out. So, here we are."

"Oh god..." I muttered. Oh why... _why did she have to tell me that..._

Her expression became worried. "What's wrong?"

"So... my family hasn't been captured? A-are you sure?"

She gave me a funny look. "I'm sure... why?"

I tugged at my hair and let out a groan. "Can you keep a secret?" I asked desperately.

She raised an eyebrow. "I... guess I could, why, what's wrong?"

I sighed, putting my head in my hands. "I-I Ki-... killed someone. They mentioned the Fentons, and told me that they'd worked it out... and I thought... I-I thought..." a sob racked my body. "He was just lying...?! I killed him over a stupid _**lie**__?_!"

I thought my family were in danger. _He'd basically said it himself..._

_...It was his own fault... if he hadn't of provoked me- _

_If I hadn't of misunderstood..._

…_this is my fault. I killed someone for no reason. _

_What's happening to me?_

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**#Edited as of 02/09/12#**


	3. Reunions

**Dark Places**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96**

**Chapter 3**

**'Reunions'**

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Every parting gives a foretaste of death, every reunion a hint of the resurrection.

-Arthur Schopenhauer

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My fingers had managed to lace themselves together in my white hair, desperately pulling at the strands just so I could feel _something_ other than this dread that was building up as I waited for Ember's reaction. She sat amongst the leaf litter, frozen in the same position she had been in before I had revealed what I had done. She didn't move, not even to breath, as my mind conjured up all the possible scenarios that could come of this situation.

My hands dropped to my sides slowly as I stared at her, eyes widening in fright.

She might think I'm too dangerous to roam free, now that I've killed someone. I mean, she's a ghost, but I don't know of any ghosts that would actually go as far as killing a human, as much as they might boast about such notions.

As much as they might threaten, they all know that there's a line you just don't cross.

And I've just crossed it.

So, what now? Surely there's a penalty for what I've done. What if the other ghosts decide I'm just too much of a liability now? If they all decide I'm too dangerous to be allowed to exist? Surely that's what Ember's thinking of now. A way to end me? Or just to lock me up in Walker's prison?

I flinched as a new more frightening thought hit me.

What if they took me back to the facility?

I jumped to my feet and glared at Ember. She flinched at my sudden movement, her eyes flickering to mine, recoiling as she met my angry gaze. I pointed an accusing finger at her. "I know what you're thinking, Ember. You think I've lost it, don't you?" My stare darkened as she opened her mouth to speak, effectively silencing her.

"How about you try being they're little experiment for a year, huh? See how desperate you get! You wouldn't last a week before you slit their worthless throats." I spat. "And I didn't even do it for me!" I continued, on the verge of tears. "After all they've done, after all the times I've imagined tearing each and every agent apart just to get through the day, I didn't do it for myself. I did it to save my family, a family that doesn't even know what I'm going through... a family that didn't help me, even when I needed them so badly."

Tears were now running down my cheeks, but I didn't move to wipe them away, instead I looked up through the branches directly overhead, trying to stop the tears brimming over. The branches made lace-like patterns against the starless sky, and telling from the lack of leaves on the tree, I guessed it must be winter.

"Danny... Calm down. I don't... I don't blame you... for what you did." She explained. "You just caught me off guard, is all. I wasn't expecting... well, I just never thought that you of all people..." she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

I sighed and looked down at her, evaluating her expression. She seemed remorseful, which was strange, but there was no hostility or deception displayed in her features, which was a nice change from the way the agents often regarded me. I sat back down, closer to her this time and facing her so that I could make sure she wasn't lying.

"I didn't want to do it... but when I did..." I sighed. "...It felt good, to see him suffer like I had for so long..." I said, voice becoming a whisper. "I guess I'm a villain now, huh?"

Her eyes searched mine for a moment, and then she sighed, looking down at the ground and picking up a dead leaf, turning it over and over as if it held the answers she was looking for.

"No... It doesn't, Danny. You're a good kid; you didn't deserve what happened to you in there." she paused, beginning to rip the leaf into tiny shreds. "Anyway, your job is to protect humans, right? Whatever they did to you to make you this..." her eyes flickered to mine for a second, searching for the right word. "... miserable, doesn't exactly seem humane. Who knows? You might have saved lives by killing him... I'm sure you aren't their only captive." She suggested. Her brow rose, as if she was waiting for an answer.

I shuddered. "There are others...I've heard them screaming."

She frowned. "Don't think about it, it won't help." She said sternly, suddenly sounding motherly. I raised an eyebrow in question at her, mouth turning up at the edges a little in amusement.

Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

My smile widened. "Nothing... nothing at all."

She let out a frustrated groan and threw her handful of shredded leaves at me. They became lodged in my knotted hair, and I frowned in disapproval.

"Aww, jeez..." I said trying to ruffle them out of my hair. "Good one!"

She laughed. "Wow, you're hopeless. Here let me-" she reached over and began picking them out of my hair. I shuddered, having someone this close to me usually meant that pain was coming. It was hard, not to pull away, but I managed to stay still, breath coming in short nervous gasps.

_I'm not hopeless..._

She pulled away, eyeing me worriedly. "Are you ok?" the smile vanished from her face when she noticed my expression.

I closed my eyes and held up my hand, a command for her to stay where she was. "I... just a second..." my arms wrapped around my chest and I slowly rocked myself back and forth, fighting to push the memories back into the dark corners of my mind.

"_Look at you, you're hopeless." The agent said, hands splattered with ectoplasm. "Why they have a pathetic thing like you locked up so securely, I'll never understand."_

_I whimpered, trying to embrace unconsciousness and escape the pain I was in. Sleep sleep sleep sleep... please... just- _I let out a scream as the pain multiplied, this time coming from my wrist. The cold bite of the blade bit deeper into my skin. It was chemically enhanced to make sure I couldn't phase through it, and a very charming side effect of it was that the chemicals from the blade would seep into the wound and slowly spread throughout my body, increasing the pain considerably.

"_Please... just stop..." I moaned through clenched teeth._

_The agent laughed. "Honestly, it's pathetic. I mean look at you, you couldn't escape this place if we released you and gave you a bloody map. How you've survived for so long is beyond me... your absolutely hopeless..."_

I hung my head. _Please... just go to sleep..._

_The blade left my wrist, and I could already feel the ectoplasm thickening in an attempt to heal itself. Within minutes, the flesh would knit back together... and then be cut open again..._

_Over and over. Every god-damned day._

_Why couldn't I just bleed out?_

_The man stopped laughing. "So, I guess I should ask you a question, so I can pretend I was doing this for information, not just for my entertainment of seeing you squirm. Hmm..." he paused for a moment. "Oh, I know! How about you tell me who your god-damn parents are, huh? You seem really stubborn about that one." He chuckled, knowing full well that I wasn't going to tell him._

_I looked up with a desperate expression on my face. "I told you! I don't have any parents!" I yelled._

_He laughed. "Of course you don't..." he said sarcastically. "Oh well, you know what happens when you lie to me..." he said coldly._

_I thrashed against the restraints. "NO! P-please! I don't remember who they were! If I did, I would have told you by now! Can't you see that there's nothing for me to tell you!" I screamed at him._

_I watched hopefully as the blade came up to my neck, formulating a plan._

_He rested the blade on the skin, just softly enough that it didn't penetrate. His mouth went to my ear. "Then I'll help you remember, won't I?" he whispered._

_My head jerked forward as I tried to dig the knife far enough into my throat. The agent let out a cry of surprise and yanked the bade away just as it dug into my skin, not enough to be fatal. He growled, murderously angry that I had tried to outsmart him. I sighed as the green liquid trickled down my neck and stained my jumpsuit._

Oh well, maybe next time._ I thought bitterly._

_The agent narrowed his eyes at me, and he clutched the knife firmer in his hands, knuckles turning white. He took a step closer so that he was towering over me, and smiled before plunging the knife into my upper arm. I screamed, but I could finally feel unconsciousness creeping up on me. I smiled, grateful._

"_Thank you." I whispered, before plunging into nothingness, my own little sanctuary from the horrors that awaited me when I woke._

With a groan of extension, I managed to push the memory away, back into the dark reaches of my mind with the rest of them. I opened my eyes just as my hand went to my throat, fingers tracing the scar that stretched across its length. I concentrated on slowing my breathing, which had become a rapid and irregular gasp. I covered my face with my hands, and after a minute I pulled them away, wiping the moisture that had sprung from my eyes away. I looked up at ember with a look of hopelessness and slight embarrassment. Her face was one of shock, her hand was covering her mouth, and her eyes were wide open, unblinking as she stared at me. I frowned and looked down, fingers raking through my hair and picking out a few bits of the leaf. I gave up, and decided to lie on my back as I waited for ember to respond. Surely, if she hadn't already, she had convinced herself that I was insane. I wasn't sure if I could handle that, the feeling of utter isolation that would bring.

After what seemed like forever, Ember's voice pierced the silence. "Danny... what..." she stopped, choking on her words. "What the hell _was _that?" she asked.

I moaned, arm draping across my eyes so I didn't have to look at her and see her expression. "A hallucination, Ember." I said, sighing. "I guess I really am crazy..."

"A hallucination?" she whispered. "What... what did you see?" she asked uncertainly.

"Bad people." I muttered half-heartedly.

She scooted closer to me, but not as close as she had been before. "Can you tell me? It might help... to talk to someone, you know?"

I lifted my arm from my face and met her eyes. I could feel the tears still welling up in my eyes, but I didn't care any more. I would try anything to make myself feel better.

"Well..."

* * *

I had fallen silent a long time ago. I had to admit, I felt better after offloading to someone. Ember had listened patiently, taking a sharp intake of breath every time I described something even remotely painful. After I had finished, she had looked at me with a look of intense empathy, and quickly embraced me with a comforting hug.

"It's going to be ok, now. I promise." She had whispered before pulling away, worried she would trigger something from the close proximity. I had smiled at her, and lay back down on the bed of fallen leaves. After a minute, she had followed suit, lying down beside me and looking up at the sky.

We had stayed like this for a while now, hands by our sides almost touching, but not quite. I was content with the silence... silence had been a comfort to me back in the facility. It meant I was safe in my cell, and that no-one was coming to collect me for questioning...

But it had also meant no-one was coming to save me.

I'd often hoped that the footsteps echoing down that hall had been those of my possible rescuer, rather than an agent. But slowly, over time, that hopefulness that had sprung up in my chest had lessened, until it was non-existent. If I had of been in my cell when Vlad had come to save me, I probably would have been standing in the doorway, waiting for him to cuff me and lead me to the torture room.

He would have got a kick out of that. ...well, probably not, actually. He seemed quite angry when I had flinched away from him earlier, so I guess he would have reacted like that instead. But it was kind of funny...

... or maybe my sense of humour's broken. That sounds about right.

"Danny?" Ember whispered, carefully.

"Yeah?" I continued searching the sky, willing the clouds to go away so that I could see the stars. I was positive that the stars would make me feel better... I didn't have any negative memories about the stars.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how... How did you-" she coughed. "You know... _end him_?" she asked.

I laughed once, amused by her curiosity on a touchy subject. "Well, he died quickly, which is more than I can say for my sanity." I said, chuckling at the end.

"I didn't mean-"

I held up my hand, indicating that I was fine with it. "Hey, you didn't make the joke, I did." I said, cutting her off. I cleared my throat before continuing. "I... impaled him. With an Icicle." I said, wiggling my fingers in the air to demonstrate that I'd used my powers. "He bled... a lot. It would have been painful, but it wouldn't have lasted long, so I guess that's ok. It means I get revenge, and that he doesn't have to suffer. I mean, we were in a torture room, there were endless methods at my disposal... I could have electrocuted him to death, or maybe poured acid over him... that would have been neat." I muttered.

I looked over at Ember, who looked far more pale than usual. I looked away, ashamed at my ramblings. "Oh... sorry, I shouldn't have said that. That was... insensitive." I apologised.

She shook her head. "No... just... really? Acid?" she asked.

"I said I was sorry... I'll keep my sadistic thoughts in my head from now on..." I promised.

She frowned. "No, I meant did they use acid on you? That's... horrible..."

"If I say no, will it make you feel better?" I asked.

She moaned. "Oh god... I hope the others beat the hell out of the agents, I really do. They deserve it..." she whispered. "How are- ... how are you even alive?" she muttered angrily.

I stiffened. "I heal really fast, remember? It kinda sucked, actually." I told her.

But her words were already echoing through my head, dredging up feelings of anxiety and dread.

_How are you even alive?_

Hadn't I thought something along those lines back in my cell earlier? The fact that it had become easier to stay in ghost form was a positive thing before, but now that there was no chance of my identity being revealed to the agents, it was a worrying thought.

_Had I really died in there?_

Ember looked up at me, seeing what was keeping me from replying. "Danny...?"

I shuddered. "Ember... what if I actually didn't?"

"Actually didn't what?" she asked, confused.

"..What if I died... and I didn't even notice?" I asked, trembling now.

"How long has it been since you were in human form?" she asked.

I sighed. "Ember, I've been in ghost form the whole time I was there. If I had of turned back into Fenton, the agents would have figured out who my family was and used them against me." I said, impatiently.

"Well... can you change back?" she asked, tone becoming worried.

I closed my eyes. "I'll try..."

I searched inside myself, looking for the little core of warmth that should be residing in my chest. At first I couldn't find it, but just as I started panicking, I found it. It felt weak, too cold, like it really was dying.

I didn't transform, and instead breathed a sigh of relief. "It's there... I'm not dead..." I said, a little breathlessly.

"Are you gunna change back?" she asked curiously.

I shook my head. "No way... I haven't eaten in a year, if I change back now, I'll starve to death in minutes. I need to be in a hospital, or something. Maybe Vlad has one..." I mused.

She sighed. "At least it's still there... Your human side, I mean." She clarified. "I don't really understand how it all works..."

I laughed. "Hey, neither do I, really." I admitted. "My parents would probably be able to understand it, but they'd have to know such a thing exists, first." I sighed. "How the hell am I going to explain this?" I muttered.

"You mean that you're a ghost?"

I shook my head. "Well, that's pretty high on my list, too. But I mean, how am I going to explain why I was gone so long?"

She looked confused. "I take it you're not going to tell them?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How could I? They'd be horrified... probably blame themselves... I don't want to hurt them any more than they already are... They probably think I'm dead."

"Well... Maybe that's for the best..." She whispered.

I gasped, looking at her disbelievingly. "What? You think I should just never go back? Pretend I'm really dead?"

She shook her head. "No... I think that maybe, since they think you're dead, they'll be too surprised and happy that you've come home to be angry at you. You'll have this, like... window of opportunity, where you could tell them you've been on a murderous rampage for the last year and they still wouldn't be angry at you." she explained.

She looked at my expression and frowned. "Ok, bad example, but you get the point. Maybe you could tell them that you're a Halfa, and that you've been trapped in the ghost zone or something. They'd be shocked, but grateful that you're still alive... well, mostly alive, anyway."

I smiled. "Well, it's a plan, for starters. Maybe I can avoid telling them though... Say I was kidnapped by a ghost and held prisoner in the ghost zone." I mused.

"Why would a ghost kidnap a human child they have no problem with?" She asked, giving my story a flaw.

I frowned, thinking. "Well, my parents _are_ ghost hunters; it could be a form of revenge, kidnapping their child." I concluded.

She looked at me sceptically. "Well, it sounds okay in theory, but wouldn't you rather not have to keep the Halfa thing a secret any more?"

I sighed. "I just want my life back... whatever's left of it. I want to go back to what it was like before."

I heard the faint sound of whooshing air, the slight displacement of sound that meant the others were back.

Ember smiled. "I was wondering what was taking them so long."

The group was chattering excitedly, seemingly in high spirits (No Pun Intended) from the fight. I studied the scene, surprised at some of the ghosts that had made an appearance. Skulker and Technus were the loudest of the group, their booming voices filling the others in on their accomplishments in the fight.

I smiled, feeling at home with their usual antics.

I got to my feet and brushed off my pants before standing and facing them uncertainly.

They landed in the clearing, most of them distracted with their own little conversations to notice me at first. Vlad sought me out immediately, squeezing me into a tight hug. I looked over his shoulder at Ember, who was giving me a worried look.

"I'm fine" I mouthed at her. She nodded, melting into the crowd to find skulker, I presumed.

"Are you ok?" Vlad asked, pulling me away and holding me at arm's length as black rings engulfed him, turning him into his human self.

I nodded. "Thank you, Vlad." I said sincerely. "You don't know how close I was to losing it in there..." I said, deciding that was enough information.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Skulker.

"Welp!" he yelled over the sea of voices. "Get over here!"

Vlad stood and threw Skulker a warning look.

I looked over at him and smiled before making my way over to the crowd. Everyone's attention turned to me as I approached, making me feel suddenly shy. Skulker closed the gap between us and smiled, punching me in the arm, none to gently, and sending me falling backwards onto the ground. I smiled through the pain though, not minding it at all.

"Got to say, Ghost child, I thought I'd never get the pleasure of hunting you again." He said, towering over me. "But now that you are back, I _will _have your pelt on my wall!" he promised.

I smiled. This was about as much as a welcome home as I was going to get from him, and I guess it was the thought that counted.

"Thanks... but that's still gross." I said, laughing.

"Leave him alone, Skulker, or I'll yank you out of your suit again, and this time Vlad won't be able to make me put you back." Said an unexpected voice.

I blinked, astonished. "Danielle?"

She burst through the crowd, still in her ghost form, and jumped on me, snaking her arms around my neck.

"Danny!" she yelled in my ear. "How's my favourite cousin?" she joked.

I laughed uncertainly, still getting over the shock of seeing her. "I'm great, now that you guys are here." I said.

She smiled, pulling herself off of me so she could see my face. "Who woulda thought I'd be busting _you_ out of jail?" she said, laughing.

I frowned, looking up at Vlad. "Why'd you bring her? She could have got hurt." I fretted.

Vlad frowned, understanding. "She wouldn't let us leave her behind, honestly, I tried. She's stubborn... like you." he said, smiling.

I looked back at Dani. "I hope Vlad's been nice to you." I said, eyes flickering to Vlad in warning.

She smiled. "Oh Danny, you worry too much. Vlad promised he won't try and melt me any more, besides, it's not like he could, anyway. I'm stabilised, remember?"

I nodded. "Still..." I let it go, sighing. "I'm just glad you're ok." I said, reaching up and ruffling her hair.

She stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to my feet. "So am I, cuz."

Over the next twenty minutes, I was at the mercy of the ghosts Vlad had managed to call to my aid. There were a few that I'd expected; Frostbite, regarding me as 'great one' as per usual. Wulf, who had picked me up, put me on his shoulder and began carrying me everywhere. But then there were the ones I hadn't been expecting; Skulker, for starters. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he was on my side... for now, anyway.

But there were also others; Technus, who spent most of the time proclaiming that it was his input that won them the fight. Everyone ignored him, which wasn't surprising. The box ghost had made an appearance also, declaring that now that I was free from my rectangular prison, I was going to face my doom at the hands of his recently acquired power of packaging foam. Needless to say, I wasn't worried.

The box ghost had left soon after, which was when Dani (who had been floating next to Wulf and I) explained that after the battle, many of the ghosts had dispersed, worried about the agents regrouping. She told me that Johnny 13, Kitty, Young blood, and Desiree had been among this group, which also shocked me. Eventually Vlad called the group to his attention, and announced that it was time to leave. Technus Frostbite and Skulker went their separate ways, promising to see me around, which was both comforting and worrying. That left our little group of Vlad, Dani, Wulf, Ember and I to head back to Vlad's mansion.

We weren't careful. Not nearly as careful as we should have been. We shouldn't have stuck around so long, made ourselves so vulnerable the way we did. But everyone had dropped their guard, myself included, despite the fact I had every reason to be paranoid.

I heard the sound of high tech weaponry coming to life, that awful high pitched whining it made as it powered on. I knew from past experiences that the sound never led to anything good. I'd leapt off of Wulf's shoulders, eyes scanning the perimeter of the clearing for their approach. Vlad turned to me, noticing my sudden shift of mood. Ember and Dani were locked in conversation, and were oblivious. The only one that seemed to notice along with me was Wulf, who could now be heard growling low in his throat.

My eyes locked onto the movement behind the trees, and my heart sank.

We were surrounded.

**A/N: Yay, Update!**

**You wouldn't believe how hard it was to write this... I've been trying ever since I posted the first two chapters.**

**Well, I managed, and it's not too shabby, I don't think. I'm not thrilled with it, but meh.**

**Virtual birthday cake to you all! I am officially 16! Hooray! Now I can get my licence and hit every single obstacle/ pedestrian humanly possible, and get sent to jail. Seriously, if you don't hear from me, I've probably accidently veered off the road and into a hospital or something, and am now being sued. You can all testify in my defence, k?**

**Didn't get me a birthday present? Shame on you! (Kidding) You can press that button down there and leave me a review instead, ok? Yeah? good.**

**Next chapters gunna be quicker, promise. :P**

**-Laura-**


	4. Enemy

**Dark places**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96**

**Chapter 4**

**'Enemy'**

* * *

_Fear is the enemy of logic._

_-Frank Sinatra_

* * *

"Guys...?"

Wulf had come to flank me, being the only other one of the group to realise we were surrounded by a hoard of very angry agents. My gaze flittered across the edges of the clearing, a lump rising in my throat.

_We're done for. There's no way I'm getting out of here. _

"Daniel? What's-" Vlad began.

"FREEZE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!" boomed a voice from the edge of the clearing. "Surrender now or we will open fire!"

The others turned around, searching wildly for the source of the noise, realising only when it was too late what was happening.

Vlad was in human form, I realised. He couldn't turn back to his ghost form now or else they'd try and take him captive too... I couldn't let that happen... not after what he'd done for me...

I wasn't going to let the agents take my saviours, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let them take me.

...Alive, anyway.

I felt a rush of defiance. _This is it_, I thought. _My final hero act. _

Vlad had taken on a defensive position, like he was about to change. I whipped my hand out and gripped his arm, getting his attention and restraining him at the same time.

"VLAD, DON'T!" I hissed under my breath. "Don't give yourself away!"

He looked at me with a desperate expression. "I haven't got a choice, Daniel. There's too many of them..."

I looked around briefly, estimating the approximate number of agents. Vlad was right, there were at least a dozen for each of us if we all fought, which I wasn't going to let happen. I wasn't going to let Vlad give away his identity, and I definitely wasn't going to let Dani be in any danger of going through what I did...

"Danny Phantom, you are now wanted for murder, as well as your pre-existing crimes. We are taking you and your accomplices in for questioning. Will you come quietly?" The man yelled.

I heard two gasps from behind me.

"Murder?" Whispered Dani.

I clenched my fists by my side, feeling the spike of adrenalin coursing through me, making me feel more powerful than I had felt in a long time.

"No, I don't believe I will come quietly... What are you going to do about it?" I said, sarcasm taking over before I had the chance to start panicking. It was strange how quickly I fell back into old habits.

"Well then, we're going to have to take you by force." he replied.

I grinned, flickering green flames encircling my hands. "I _Dare_ you to try..."

I raised my arms out in front of me, just as the first blasts were shot. The energy that I had let congeal in my hands now spread out around me, encircling our little group in a protective dome in a matter of seconds. I made sure I'd left no openings, and kept my hands splayed out by my sides, feeling the energy from the dome like it was a living, breathing thing.

I turned to face the others, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

Dani was standing next to ember, holding her hand and peering at me fearfully. Whether she was scared of me or the situation, I couldn't be sure.

I turned to Vlad. "Vlad, take Dani, get her out of here. As soon as I drop the shield, fly out of here as fast as you can. Ember, you go with them. Wulf and I-" I flinched as I felt half a dozen simultaneous impacts on the edge of the dome. I let more of my energy seep into the shield, thickening it.

"-Will keep them busy while you get a head start. What do you say Wulf, up for a challenge?" I said, turning to him and grinning.

He grinned, showing his sharp teeth. "Mi luktos por mia lasta spiro, amiko."

I cocked a brow, but smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Vlad stepped forward. "No Daniel! I will absolutely not allow you to stay behind! I will stay with Wulf, and you go to safety. You're in no condition to fight."

"Vlad, listen to me! They're never going to stop. I have to do this, or they're just going to keep coming back. I'll never be safe again if I run now, and neither will any of you." I sighed. "I'll be living in fear for the rest of my life, I don't want that. I want to know I can beat them." _Better not to tell him I was expecting to die, that wouldn't help me convince him._

He shook his head. "I'm staying with you. Ember can take Dani."

"No! You can't fight them! It's already a possibility that they've recognised you, but if you leave, they won't pursue you. They'll just believe you're a human and leave you alone." I flinched again as more blasts hit the dome. "If you stay and fight, they'll figure it out. They'll hunt you down... I'm not going to let any of you get hurt because of me." I said, making eye contact with everyone in the group. "I won't let any of you go through what I did."

When my eyes locked onto Ember's, I could tell that she understood. She knew the horrors being caught would bring down on everyone. She knew more than anyone else here, besides me. No-one knew, or would ever know, what it was like to go through that the way I did. Some things just can't be explained. But at least Ember had _some_ idea.

"I'll get her to safety, Danny. I promise." Ember whispered.

Vlad looked to Ember angrily and then back to me. "This is ridiculous! I'm not leaving a fifteen year old boy and a dog to fight an army of full grown men. I'm staying whether you like it or not!" He said stubbornly.

I sighed. "Vlad, I didn't want to have to do this, but if you won't go to safety, I'll just have to hand myself over. They're only really after me, if I hand myself over, they'll leave you alone."

His eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare..."

I nodded grimly. "Oh but I would. So what's it gunna be, Vlad? Hand myself over, or are you going to let me have a fighting chance?"

"You're despicable." He accused.

I grinned. "So you'll go, I take it?"

If looks could kill, I would have dropped dead that second.

He let out a frustrated groan. "Fine. But I swear, if you get captured, you'd wanna hope I don't get to you." he muttered.

I laughed. "They're not gunna catch me."

"How can you be so sure? They've done it before..." Vlad muttered anxiously.

My eyes narrowed, all humour from my expression disappearing. "They're not going to get me again... because this time I won't hold back."

I turned my back on the others and faced the agents, who were standing about thirty feet from the dome, probably trying to figure out how they were going to break through.

"Ember, grab Vlad and fly him out of the clearing, that way they'll think you're sharing your intangibility. Dani... stay with Ember... she'll keep you safe." I said in a low voice.

Vlad huffed. "This is stupid..."

I could imagine him kicking at the dirt, an angry look on his face since he'd be missing out on the fight. I nearly burst out laughing. Vlad could be so immature sometimes.

"Danny, why does Wulf get to help you? Don't you care if he gets captured too?" Dani voiced quietly.

"Because..." I began, turning to face her. "If worse turns to worse, he can make himself a portal into the ghost zone and make a quick getaway. That way, they'll only get me." I explained.

"Wulf ne lasos vin morti!" Wulf growled.

I smirked. "See, Wulf likes the plan."

Wulf's growl deepened.

Suddenly there was a blinding light coming from outside, and I felt a sharp stab of pain in my head as it impacted the dome. My hand went to my forehead and I let out a moan as I forced yet more of my important energy reserve into keeping the shield up.

"Guys... I'm going to have to drop the shield. I can't hold it for much longer..." I panted.

Vlad frowned. "Are we meeting at my mansion?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah... If all goes well, Wulf will guide us back. If not... then..." I shrugged. "Ready?" I asked, turning to Wulf.

He growled in confirmation, sharp claws coming out of their sheaths as he prepared for the attack.

"Ok guys... on the count of three..." I called over my shoulder, turning to face the agents.

I grimaced. The agents had been well equipped with large high tech weaponry. Now that I could see them properly, there seemed to be more than I had first estimated. Maybe we couldn't win this...

I cleared my throat. "One..."

Wulf took a step forward so that he was standing next to me, ready to defend me if need be. The thought was comforting... but it also made me worried that he wouldn't leave if I got captured... And that the agents would capture him too... I clenched my fists, letting the green energy swell around my hands and up my forearms. I could take them, I was a ghost, and these were just a bunch of weak, pathetic humans. And then, maybe, I'll be finally free.

"...Two..."

_No_, I thought bitterly. _by the end of this fight, whether I win or lose, I will be free... even if I have to die in order to gain that freedom._

"...THREE!" I yelled, letting the shield disintegrate. I smiled, feeling some of the excess energy from the dome return to my core, giving me a much needed boost of energy.

I turned around to make sure that the others weren't going to try anything, and caught the last visual of them disappearing up and over the tree tops. Wulf let out a ferocious growl as the group of agents behind us started coming closer and leapt at them, hitting five of them to the ground with a quick sidewards blow. I smiled, turning my back to wulf and facing the agents in front of me. They seemed more hesitant, which I guess was understandable.

There's nothing scarier than a ghost with a grudge.

I decided to use their fear to my advantage, and let some excess power into my eyes, making them glow bright toxic green. Not just the orbs, but the whole eye, like what used to happened accidently when I was about to unleash a particularly powerful blast. Tucker and Sam had both commented on how creepy it was on many occasions, complaining that it sent chills down their spines.

Hopefully it has the same effect on these guys.

The agents stopped their approach and instead pulled out their guns, aiming them at my chest. I smiled wider, and before they could react, I ran head long towards the agents as fast as I could. I came to a quick stop about 10 feet from them, using my momentum to spin kick at the air separating me from the group, all the while forcing the energy from my core down to my feet and finally out, sending a large crescent shape of green fire hurtling towards them at breakneck speed.

The first row of agents were knocked to the ground by the blast, the front of their uniforms singed black. I didn't pause as I ran forward again, dodging two red beams and pushing myself up off the ground just inches from the closest agent. The agents were each standing about three feet from each other. I guessed it was some sort of special formation, but it didn't matter, it was going to lead to their downfall.

I jumped over the first line of men and landed behind them, eyes locking onto a man with a weapon that seemed to be larger than everyone else's, which I guessed was where the huge impact on the side of the dome had come from.

I ducked and weaved around three men who tried to grab at me, instead of using weapons, (which I thought was pretty stupid) and came to a stop in front of the man, shooting my hand out and grabbing the gun. I let the coldness from my core seep into the palm of my hand and spread across the weapon. The man let go of it before the ice reached his hand, which was wise. I gripped the gun and flung it at one of the other agents, who fell backwards as the gun impacted and shattered on his chest.

_Ouch..._

When I turned back I decided there were too many of them surrounding me for my comfort, and turned invisible, jumping up into the air and spin-kicking at an agent's head, who yelled and fell backwards on top of someone else.

I laughed, and I realised I was actually enjoying myself.

That probably isn't a good thing, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

I landed on my feet, grabbed the closest agent by the arm and spun on my heel; spinning him with me. He let out a cry of surprise as I flung him in a circle, knocking over the surrounding agents like they were bowling pins. After a few seconds of building momentum, I let go of his arm and sent him hurtling through the crowd, taking out a further three agents.

I brushed by hands together and surveyed my success. At least a third of the agents were lying on the ground, showing no signs of getting up.

I quickly jumped to the side as a blast hurtled towards me, sending one of my own back at the offender, who was hit squarely in the chest and toppled over, groaning. I laughed, realising that the beam I had dodged had continued to hit one of their own.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest, which meant I was slowly beginning to run out of power. I panted, trying to push the feeling of pain from the forefront of my mind, when I felt two sets of hands clamp down on my shoulders from behind me. The hands roughly grabbed my hands, pulling them together behind my back clipping a pair of handcuffs on my wrists before I had a chance to do anything.

I let a burst of green fire out from my hands, knocking one of the men over. I spun around, causing the man who was still holding onto me to lose his balance and fall on his hand and knees. My eyes blazed blue as I shot ice from my eyes at the fallen man, who proceeded to freeze rock solid. With my hands still secured, I kicked the legs out from under one of the agents who had chosen that moment to attack, making him crumple to the ground.

I forced more cold from my core and into the palm of my hands, which slowly made its way up my wrists and encased the cuffs in solid ice. I clenched my fists tighter and pulled, snapping the chain joining the cuffs apart. I didn't have time to fully remove them before another lot of shots were being fired at me. I dodged four; ducking, jumping, side stepping, turning intangible...

The last blast was actually well aimed, and it came at me so fast there was no way I'd dodge it on time. I put my hands out in front protectively and _caught_ the blazing red energy, watching it in astonishment as it seemed to comply with my movements, as if it was one of my own blasts. I threw it from one hand to the other like a ball, and then let it seep into my hands, up my arm and into my chest, where it resided in my core, apparently compatible with my energy system. I raised my head to grin evilly at the agents, letting the red energy encase my wrists and seep into my eyes, turning them blood red instead of toxic green.

"_Oh, you've got to be kidding me?" _I snickered. "_You use ectoplasm in your weapons? Well this just got _a lot _easier."_

The man closest to me dropped his weapon and backed away, hands raised out in front of him. "It's modified... you shouldn't be able to absorb it..." he whimpered in fear. "_What are you...?" _He asked, eyes widened to the size of diner plates.

I grinned and stepped forward. "_Something you should have killed when you had the chance."_

I sent a beam of red energy hurtling into his chest, before turning away from him and facing the rest of the group.

The small portion of men left raised their weapons shakily. I raised an eyebrow at them, wondering if they were really that stupid as to give me more power. None of them fired their weapons, so that was a good sign.

I raised my right hand comically, aiming it at the group and watching in satisfaction as they flinched away. Instead of firing at them, I gave them a quick wave, and raised my foot off of the ground, stomping it back down into the ground, hard.

A thin sheet of ice spread out from where my foot impacted the ground, heading towards the agents too quickly for them to be able to run. When the ice reached the feet of the closest man, it advanced up his legs and soon covered him, freezing him solid with his gun still aimed at my heart and a look of utter dread perfectly preserved on his face.

It didn't take long for the rest to suffer similar fates. Within seconds, the men had gone from a group of cowering agents to pristine ice sculptures.

My head whipped around, looking for Wulf, when I spotted him on the other side of the clearing, still taking on at least a dozen of the agents.

I conjured up some energy in my hands, but it fizzled out almost immediately. I cursed; feeling the sharp pain in my chest again more forcefully this time.

The pain began bringing on other painful memories, like the time the agents had cut me open on an operating table...

"_No! I can't lose control_..." I hissed to myself.

_...I can't afford to be crazy... not now..._

I groaned, clenching my teeth and fists in mental exertion as I forced the memory away. It took a minute, but I succeeded, and I was thankful that I would not collapse into a hallucination while I was in the middle of the most important battle of my life.

I searched around me, trying to think of how I could help Wulf without using too much of my powers, when I noticed one of the agent's guns lying discarded on the ground. I grinned, reaching for it and picking it up.

I put the palm of my hand against the muzzle, taking a nervous breath before pulling the trigger. It felt so wrong to shoot myself...

The electricity jolted up my arm, more painfully than last time, and quickly replenished my core with the strange red energy. I dropped the gun to my side and kicked it away before taking to the air and rocketing over to the ongoing fight. The red energy had seeped into my aura, turning it red and making me look like a blazing comet as I shot across the field.

As I reached Wulf, I conjured up a ball of energy in my hand and threw it into the densest area of agents, taking a few of them out. As the energy left my hand I realised it was crimson, instead of my usual green. Did that mean that I was running solely on the energy from the gun?

I didn't have time to wonder, because in that moment the agents turned their attention to me, some of their eyes widening in fear and disbelief.

One of the agents gasped. "Wha- Where's everyone else?"

I grinned; "They got on my bad side."

I flung a disk of crimson energy at the group, knocking two of them to the ground while the other seven managed to jump out of the way on time. I landed on my feet, running directly at one of the men and sending a red glowing fist straight into his jaw, knocking him to the ground.

I looked over at Wulf, who had managed to round up three of the men. He clawed at them, slicing one of the men's guns and causing it to overload, resulting in a small explosion. It was just enough to cause a faint ringing in my ears, and to knock the trio out cold.

In my moment of being distracted, one of the agents had crept up on me. The only reason I realised he was there was when I heard the click of a cocked gun, right by my ear.

I froze in place, swallowing the lump in my throat as I realised it wasn't one of the high tech guns, but a simple pistol.

How ironic, that I could be taken down by such a simple thing when their high tech machinery was actually helping me win the fight.

"Don't move!" the man demanded, panting heavily. "I don't know how you took the other men out, but it ends now!"

I grinned, despite the feeling of losing half of my energy in the time frame of two seconds. "Oh, I think you're right. It does end now... but you're not the one to end it..." I said, pausing as I waited expectantly.

My duplicate became visible on the other side of the man a split second before it grabbed the gun out of the agent's hands and drifted quickly out of reach. He held up the gun, dangling it in front of him with thumb and forefinger before gripping it in both hands and snapping it in half as if it was a twig. As the man was distracted, I landed a solid kick in his back, sending him sprawling on to his stomach before I recalled the duplicate, grateful for my full strength back.

I turned around to see Wulf standing with his back to me, facing the last group of agents and growling deep in his throat. I cringed when I noticed the large ragged cut that stretched down his neck and onto his upper back, wondering what caused it.

I stepped around Wulf and studied the last of the enemy, the only ones left to stop me going home. There were five altogether, and they looked a little worse for wear from the battle. One man stood apart from the rest, slightly closer to us than the others. I guessed from his slightly different uniform that he must be the one in charge.

I rolled my shoulders, feeling slightly stiff. _Good, if I can get my message across to him, he can spread it to the others._

"It must be pretty obvious to you what's about to happen, right?" I asked, sounding bored. "My friend and I are about to defeat you, and then I will be free." I cleared my throat. "But the question is, are you going to let me stay that way? Or are we going to have further problems?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

The man in front stepped forward, leaving a gap of about ten feet between us. "What are you implying?" he asked angrily, spitting at the ground. Telling from the man's expression, he wasn't an idiot. He knew he was beaten; he was just too arrogant to admit it.

I sighed. "It's simple, really. Are you going to leave me alone once I leave? Because if you plan on following me... on tracking me or any of the others down, I'd strongly advise against it." I narrowed my eyes, letting them blaze a bright red from my borrowed supply. "If I see any of you or your men ever again, I will not hesitate to kill you." I cocked my head to the side, grinning menacingly. "Let the death of your friend be your first and final warning. I've killed one of you before, and I will not think twice about doing it again. Do we have an agreement?" I asked. "My freedom, in exchange for you getting to keep your worthless lives?"

The man frowned. "We will never let a thing as dangerous as you roam free. You've proven to us tonight how dangerous you really are... what a threat to mankind you are. You've given us more reason to lock you up tonight in your drastic actions than we could have even guessed at. But if you hand yourself over now, we'll be lenient on you. We won't hunt your friends. No more questionings or torture... we'll just lock you in a cell and leave you alone. You have my word."

A cruel grin spread across my face. "I though lying was a bad thing. At least... that's what you told me, remember?" I shrugged, letting the glowing red energy that encased my hands glow brighter. "Oh well... You of all people should know what happens to people around here when they lie..."

My hand shot up, aiming dead centre at the man's chest before letting my most powerful blast of the night go hurtling towards its target. The blast was big enough that it took out the whole group, sending them flying backwards onto the bed of leaves me and Ember had been lying on earlier.

Wulf came to stand at my side, and sniffed at my face. "Ĉu vi deziras forlasi nun, amiko?" he said.

I held a hand out to him, motioning for him to wait. "Just... give me a minute."

I walked slowly forward, towards the men I had just knocked down. My eyes scanned my surroundings in astonishment as they passed over all the motionless (Not dead) bodies. Once I reached the man that was in charge, I bent down by his head and poked him in the arm. He stirred, and his eyes opened so that they were half lidded.

I smiled at him, before my hand went to his front pants pocket and rifled around until I found what I was looking for.

I slid my hand out with his wallet clutched inside, and put it in front of his face so that he knew I had it. Then I proceeded to open it and empty the credit card holders of a driver's license, an ID and some kind of discount card I had no patience to pay attention to. I grabbed the ID and pulled it closer to my face, examining the details.

"So... Paul Brent?" I mused, reading the name printed on the card. "I finally know your real name. I wonder... Do you have a sweetheart? Maybe some children...?" I asked offhandedly.

The man's eyes widened, but he wasn't in any position to do much more.

"Hmm..." I picked up the wallet again and flipped it open.

My eyes scanned a photo situated in one of the clear pockets. It was of a small girl who looked about five. She was grinning at the camera, not an inkling of fear displayed in her light brown eyes... she obviously did not know how much of a monster her father really was...

"Oh... she's lovely. I can see the resemblance..." I smirked, looking down at the man with a piecing gaze. "She looks so young... so innocent... it would be a shame if something_... bad_ was to happen to her, wouldn't it?"

The man moaned. "Don't even... think about it..." he managed to say.

I grinned. "Oh, I would never dream of such a thing... unless... say... I, or any other of my accomplices were to be tracked down... That would be a different story." I threatened.

The man cringed. "You wouldn't hurt a child..." he coughed.

I smiled, amused. "Just like you and your men would never hurt a child, hmm?" I bent closer to his ear so he would hear me. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Paul. And I'm afraid you and your men have made me able to understand that. Perhaps, if you had of left me alone in the first place, I would never be able to consider such a horrible deed. But the world is full of horror, I know that now. And one little horrific deed won't make much difference in this messed up world, will it now?" I hissed.

He shivered from my close proximity. "Ok... ok, fine. We won't hunt you... just... don't hurt her..." he said breathlessly.

I smiled, showing teeth. "We have a deal, then?"

He nodded, fear leaking into his voice. "D-deal."

I stood up, grinning, letting my eyes fade back to their normal green, minus the glow. "I'm so glad we could sort this little problem out. I'll just take your ID card, and this gorgeous little picture here, to make it easier for me to find her if you break your end of the deal, ok? And don't get any ideas about relocating to protect her, and then coming after me... I'm a whiz at hide and seek." I said before pocketing the card and picture. I winked at the man and turned on my heel, walking up to Wulf.

"Come on, let's get going before they start waking up." I said.

Wulf looked at me questioningly for a second before picking me up and putting me on his un-injured shoulder.

"Kiu ne ŝajnis tre bela..." he muttered as he started running for the trees.

I sighed. "I know Wulf, but it was the only way to keep everyone safe."

He grunted. "Per timigante lin en lasante vi sola?"

"Precisely." I said, grinning. "It's about time I started using this ghost thing to my advantage."

"Mensogi tiu ne estas prudenta, amiko. Vi de ĉiuj homoj devus scii tion." He insisted, starting off at a run as we reached the trees. He navigated the ditches and rises easily, keeping a steady pace.

I rolled my eyes. "I never said I was lying, Wulf. If he doesn't follow through on his end of the bargain, I'm going to follow through with what I said." I said coldly.

Wulf shivered beneath me, and it wasn't from the cold.

* * *

We continued on in silence for a long time. Wulf proved himself extremely useful, if not for his navigational and fighting skills, then for the softness of his fur, in which I managed to steal a few hours of sleep. A bonus from the fight was that it had made me so exhausted that I didn't dream, which meant I didn't have nightmares... which meant I wasn't crazy.

...For now, anyway...

Wulf continued on through the night, running in a way that wouldn't jostle the lightest of sleepers. When I woke in the early hours of the morning, I insisted he stop and take a break, feeling a little bit guilty for not letting him earlier.

He frowned at me. "Sed amiko, mi ne lacigxas de kurante..."

I got off of his shoulder and floated in front of him, waving him off. "Well, you're making me tired just thinking about it. Take a break."

He led me to a small stream, which I thanked him for. I would never have found it if it weren't for the use of Wulf's keen sense of smell.

I took a drink and wet my hair, cleaning out the dirt and various other things that had made its way into the knots. Wulf curled up next to the stream and took on the job of sentry, ears pricking up at the tiniest of sounds.

I sighed and flew up out and above the trees, feeling the almost alien feel of sun on my skin for the first time in more than a year. I must have missed the sunrise while I was sleeping, but the sight of the sun was enough beauty for me for the time being.

I ducked back into the trees; feeling too exposed, and sat myself on a particularly high branch situated over the stream. Wulf looked up at me and rolled his eyes before resting his head back on the ground again, muttering something that I didn't pay attention to.

I sat there for the next twenty minutes, invisibly watching a family of birds. The branch below me held a nest, which had two little chicks in it, only just beginning to get their feathers. The parents kept leaving and coming back with various things; Food for the chicks, twigs to add to the nest, chunks of mud to hold it all together... it was captivating, to me at least. I hadn't seen any animals since...

_No... No don't think about it..._

I stared more intently at the birds now, trying to distract myself from remembering another particularly horrible torture. I began repeating everything I observed over and over in my head, drowning out the memory that way.

_There are a family of birds below me... the mother and father are looking after their two babies... they must love their babies... there are two kids, just like in my family... I miss my family... I am going to see my family soon... I do not know how I am going to explain where I have been to my family..._

I grimaced. "Wulf... do you want to go now?" I called down, accidently startling the birds.

He raised his head and nodded. "Ni bezonas reiri rapide"

I jumped off the branch and landed weightlessly on the ground 15 feet below. "I know, I know." I laughed. "Vlad will probably be freaking out at the moment. I'm glad I'm not there for him to take it out on."

Wulf motioned for me to get back on his shoulder, but I declined, insisting I needed the exercise. Wulf then made an offhand comment about 'keeping up' and shot off like a rocket through the thick shrub, turning intangible if it got too hard to navigate through. I stayed in the air above Wulf, easily keeping pace with him. Though, I guess it was easier to fly intangibly through everything than it was to run along the uneven ground. I wondered idly how far away we were, but I didn't bother asking, enjoying the sensation of flying and the feeling of freedom that accompanied it to the point that I wouldn't care if it took years.

After about 45 minutes, we came to a sudden stop at a highway that seemed to cut the forest in half. We turned invisible and intangible as we crossed it, not wanting to cause a scene. Once on the other side, Wulf changed direction, deciding to run in the forest alongside the highway. His nose seemed to be to the ground more often than it had been, and he seemed to concentrating pretty hard, so I kept quiet and followed silently. Every now and then his nose would lift and he would sniff the air, and then put his nose to the ground again and continue on his way. I couldn't help but wonder if he was checking to see if I was still there.

I don't know how long we continued like this, but it wasn't until the sun was directly overhead that we started coming across and signs of life (apart from the occasional car on the road beside us). At first there was an increase in traffic, and then the trees started thinning, causing us to revert to a constant state of invisibility.

We followed a road up a hill, and once we were at the top I realised we were already in Wisconsin. Vlad's mansion was in view, and a smile spread across my face at the thought of being somewhere familiar to me.

It took less than five minutes to reach Vlad's mansion from the hill, mostly since we'd sped up for the home stretch. I knew Vlad would be worrying, and as much as it humoured me, worry wasn't a very pleasant emotion, and I would try not to make Vlad suffer too much. I owed him too much for that.

We raced up the drive way, dropping our invisibility as we reached the front door and barging through it.

I cupped my hands over my mouth. "We're Ho-ome!" I called cheerily.

I strained my ears for a reply, but I got none, which made me automatically worried. "Wulf... they are here, right? I mean... we were following their trail, weren't we?"

He nodded, putting his nose to the ground and motioning for me to follow him. He continued down the hall and turned left, coming to a stop outside a large set of double doors and sticking his head through.

There was a surprized yelp from the other side, and Wulf jumped through the door. I walked through the door after him, smiling when I saw Ember sitting on the couch with Dani curled into her side, sleeping. Vlad had been sitting across from them, but had already jumped to his feet and was crossing the room to greet us.

"Oh- Thank god." He said, pulling me into a hug.

He pulled me away after a second and held me at arm's length, examining me. "Are you injured? What happened? Are you being followed?" he demanded. He gasped and grabbed my wrists, holding them up to his eye level and examining the remains of the hand cuffs.

I shook my head and reclaimed my wrists. "I'm fine... just a few scrapes and bruises. And no, I made sure they wouldn't follow us. In fact, I wouldn't be surprized if we never heard of them again." I said coldly, feeling the weight of the photo and the ID card like it weighed a tonne.

Vlad's eyes narrowed. "You didn't... kill them, did you?" he asked uncertainly.

I laughed. "No, no. Just... frightened them enough that they'd leave us alone, is all." I smirked. "I can play the scary ghost quite convincingly, apparently." I said, looking over at Wulf, who had curled up in the corner by the fire.

He lifted his head. "Li estos kiel demono, ĉi tiu. Vi devus vidi, li estis rapida kaj mortiga, kaj tre timiga." He insisted. I silenced him with a glare.

Ember got up, doing her best not to jostle the girl at her side, and walked over. "Well, now that that's over, and Vlad can stop getting on my nerves-" she glared at him. "We can sort out the other issues." She suggested.

I frowned. "What issues?"

She gave me a 'duh' look. "Well, for starters, getting your human form back into health. And then after that, we have to sort out how we're going to get you home." She explained.

Vlad grimaced. "Yes... Ember explained your theory about the starvation... I think we'd better play it safe and have you hooked up to an IV when you change back. You'll probably be confined to bed rest for a few days, too, since your body will be in such bad shape. The sooner we start the more likely we'll succeed, so we'd better hurry." He fretted.

I pulled a face. "Uhh, why don't I just eat in _this_ form, and _then_ change back? Wouldn't that be easier?" I asked.

Vlad frowned. "If you eat in this form your human body won't get as much of the nutrients. I'm afraid there's no easy way out of this one." He muttered. "Come on, we'd better get it over with, right? The sooner this is over, the sooner we can organize you going home."

I smiled. "Yeah, ok then. So... where to?"

"Follow me." He walked in the direction of the door, phasing through it and out into the hall, not bothering to act human around our little group.

I followed suit, and once I was in the hallway, Ember came through as well, coming to walk beside me.

She looked down at me with a worried expression, but smiled. "We should have another talk soon, once you're better, ok? I have some questions..."

I frowned. "...Ok... Hey, uh... did you tell Vlad...?"

She shook her head. "No... I didn't think you'd like that."

I nodded. Vlad knowing I had not only the ability to kill, but had actually followed through, would hinder my chances of him letting me go home drastically.

My eyes sought the man out. Vlad was walking briskly ahead of us, leading us through a corridor. We followed him as he turned right at the end, and then turned right again into a room, motioning for us to hurry.

I followed behind Ember as she entered the room, Vlad actually having opened the door this time. I walked in, eyes scanning the room for any signs of danger. The room was reasonably sized, the floor was covered in white tiles and the walls were painted a similar shade. The room really could have passed off as a hospital room, if such a thing were to come in handy. I walked a few steps further into the room, eyes studying the smaller details. There were a set of cabinets on the far wall, and a small sink on top of a stainless steel counter. On the counter was a tray which boasted various perfectly polished medical equipment, including tweezers, scissors, medical tongs, scalpels...

I flinched away from the tray automatically, stepping back and bumping into someone behind me. Whoever it was caught me before I could lose balance, and I looked up with a nervous smile to thank them...

My eyes widened in shock as they took in the familiar features of Tiny. His eyes were covered in his darkly tinted shades, and his evil smile widened as he registered the fear in my eyes. His grip tightened around me, becoming restraining instead of gentle as they had been a few seconds ago. They tightened around my waist, making it hard for me to breathe...

I let out a pained scream, hands reaching up to his arms and trying to forcibly remove them so that I could get away. I looked around the room for the others, to tell them to get help, or maybe to tell them to run... but the words died in my throat.

The room had transformed. No longer was it filled with natural light and clean utensils. No longer was it a room used for the healing of broken bodies. I felt ice water shoot through my veins as the dread began to sink in to my vulnerable mind.

The floor was an all too familiar grey, stained here and there with ugly patches of green, some more fresh than others. The room was scattered with various contraptions, all of which I had become familiar with over the course of my year long stay. Over there, by the far corner, was the operating table I had been on for my very first interrogation. And there, about five steps away, was the electrocuting device that I had been strapped to earlier, just before I had...

Tears began forming in the corners of my eyes as my mind searched desperately for an excuse for what I was seeing_. I couldn't be here. I wasn't here..._

Tiny's arms constricted tighter around me, slowly causing me to suffocate. The concept seemed unimportant in contrast to everything else going on at the time, but eventually I couldn't ignore the pain any longer. My nails raked across his forearms, leaving deep scratches along their lengths in my desperate attempt at freedom. Surprisingly, Tiny let me go, thrusting me away from him so suddenly that I lost my balance and fell to the ground in an awkward heap.

"You little brat!" he yelled, his other hand clasping over the scratches. "Oh, you're going to pay dearly for that..."

I rolled onto my back just in time for him to grab me by the neck and lift me up, abruptly cutting off my air supply. My hands grabbed uselessly at his arm, trying to make him let go again, with no luck. He frowned at me with disgust before he flung me across the room as if I weighed as much as a ragdoll. I impacted hard, falling to the floor with an audible thump.

When I opened my eyes, I gasped, surprised at how suddenly my surroundings had changed. The torture room had morphed into what appeared to be a never ending plane of swirling fog and darkness. I could barely see three feet in front of me, giving me the sense of being alone, but as my hearing ranged out around me, I swear I could hear things sliding through the darkness, slowly getting closer.

I held my breath, trying to anticipate their approach. Coldness quickly seeped through my HAZMAT suit and into my skin, causing me to shiver.

After a minute of complete silence, I exhaled, breath coming out as a fog in the cold air. One arm wrapped around my midsection as the other ventured forward blindly, testing for possible obstacles. When I found none, I let out a nervous sigh and forced glowing green ectoplasm to encircle my hand, lighting up my surroundings.

The light emitting from my hand touched on the figure standing over me, and I flinched back in surprise as I recognised him.

"What! How are... you can't be..." I stuttered, getting to my feet and slowly backing away.

His laughter echoed all around us, making me feel trapped. He stepped forward, flaming white hair illuminating the space around us.

"What? I can't be here? Why not, Danny boy? Why can't I be here?" he asked darkly, closing the distance between us and shoving me backwards roughly. I stumbled, but I kept my balance this time.

"Because... I-I destroyed you. I made sure you didn't exist..." I stammered uselessly, hands splayed out in front of me in a warning.

He chuckled some more. "Oh Danny, you are so clueless sometimes, aren't you? Did you really think that stopping me once would be enough? Did you really think that I'd never get another chance? ...That you'd never get another chance of becoming me?" his arms crossed over his chest as he disappeared from view.

I stepped forward, eyes squinting through the fog in search for my frightening older self. He appeared suddenly on my left, making me jump.

"And why wouldn't you want to become me? To be as all powerful as I am?" a playful smirk teased on the edges of his lips. "Wouldn't it be nice, to be able to get revenge on the ones that hurt you?"

I froze, hands becoming fists at my sides. "Stop! Don't you even dare try that with me! I won't turn into you... I'm not evil like you."

He laughed, seemingly amused. "Oh? So I suppose murder doesn't count as evil then, huh?" he mused.

My eyes narrowed. "...I had to do it!" I yelled. "But you hurt people for no good reason!"

"I don't hurt people for no reason, I hurt people to get what I want. Is that so different from what you did? You killed to get what you wanted, which was essentially the safety of your loved ones, am I correct?" he accused.

I made an irritated noise. "Well... yeah, but-"

"See! We are not as different as you would like to think, young Daniel. It is only a matter of time before I will exist in a place other than your vulnerable mind. Soon, very soon, your human side will crumble under the stress, and I will be all that is left..." he finished off at a whisper before he melted into the fog, his words echoing through the dark space.

My eyes narrowed. "No! I won't turn into you... I can't... you'll see..." I yelled after him, feeling disheartened. Maybe he's right...

...Maybe it would be easier...

_NO. I can't let myself think like that. _I berated myself. _I'm better than that._

I took a step forward, intending to follow after the older version of myself, only for the ground to fall out from beneath me. I plummeted through utter blackness, head spinning, until I slammed into the ground.

_Wait... ground? _

My eyes opened, and I was indeed lying on the ground. The ground was made of soft white carpet, and for a moment I just lay there with my cheek against it as I waited for my head to stop spinning.

I became aware of voices then, frantically yelling in my ear for me to wake up. I could feel cold hands on my shoulder, and I let out a confused moan.

"Danny! Danny wake up! Its ok, you're ok... can you hear me Danny?" came a female voice.

"Mmom..?" I whispered, unable to keep my eyes open. It felt like they were being weighed down with lead weights.

"No Danny, it's me, Ember. Can you open your eyes for me?" she asked, her hands tugging at my shoulder, rolling me onto my back.

_Ember? But... Ember's not in the facility...?_

"...How did they get you, Ember?" I whispered. "I thought they'd only got me..."

"Danny...? Who's got you?"

"The agents. They got me again... I thought I was safe, but I wasn't... I can never be safe Ember, it sucks." I whispered back, voice becoming less audible.

My head was spinning, and my mind was trying to decipher the clues to figure out what was real and what was fake. It felt like I was walking on a tightrope, constantly leering to the sides as my resolve waivered. _Had I escaped the facility? Or was I imagining that? Was I dreaming this confrontation with Ember? _

_Was I actually unconscious in my cell right now? Had I been the whole time? Was I going to wake up in my cell, truly disheartened in the knowledge that nobody truly knew that I was here? That my mind had fabricated this fantasy in my unconsciousness so I could escape the real world for a few hours?_

_Did it matter, in the end?_

The tightrope turned to dust as I lost consciousness, and I was sent plummeting straight down into the unknown, without a safety net... and without answers, not knowing where I was going to wake up.

* * *

Hey guys! Well, this is the longest chapter of the story so far, so that should make up for the shitty fight scene... right?

***Dodges flaming arro**w*

Oh, ok then. Well, it was my first proper attempt at a fight scene, so don't hate me for it. I know it was pretty average.

Anywho, I haveth posted a poll on my profile regarding this story, so if you got time you should drop by and check it out, yes?

Next chapter will be quite angsty... but why am I even warning you people? Isn't that why we're all here? To enjoy us some Danneh torture? (You know you love it!)

….And if you don't... then you obviously didn't read my warning at the start of Chapter one. I am clearly not liable for your now tainted mind. Good day.

See that little review button down there? You should totally press it. Go on... I dare you. :DDDD

-Laura-


	5. Plans

**DARK PLACES**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96**

**Chapter 5**

**'Plans'**

* * *

_"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans." _**  
**

_- Peter F. Drucker_

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..._

My fingers were tapping away nervously at the hardwood floor, creating a complicated rhythm that to those who were not well versed in music, would appear to have no pattern; no predictable design that could be followed or anticipated. They moved quickly, impacting the polished floor with varied force, creating a makeshift melody of lighter sounds mixed in with the heavy, more forceful and easily heard ones. I would sometimes alter the pattern slightly if I began to become too familiar with it, changing it before my mind had a chance to wander...

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap..._

The rhythm became more forceful as I tried to push the unwanted thoughts from my mind, trying to bury myself in the tempo. My eyes disobeyed me, risking a fleeting glance at the door.

_What was taking him so long, anyway?_

I bit my bottom lip and pulled my knees closer to my chest, hugging them tighter with my free arm while my other hand continued to tap on the floorboards. Despite my best efforts, my attention began to wander- and I slowly found myself being overcome with anxiety as I tried to picture the fate of the boy lying unconscious in the next room.

My expression became blank as my attention was claimed by a memory, and the rhythmic tapping ceased. I was taken back to the boy's final conscious moments, watching the event play over in my head as if it was all happening in slow motion. He had seemed fine- more than fine, in fact; he had almost seemed _happy_. What could possibly have set him off so quickly?

_...Almost _happy_..._ My mind echoed, causing me to frown. That was the tragic thing about the situation. His face seemed to possess a permanent shadow, a haunted quality about him that seemed to be hidden just under the surface, hidden by a false expression of happiness. It was something I had seen before, but never on someone so young...

My Dad had gained a similar trait after the death of my mother; as if her death had turned him into a completely different person. His soft grey-blue eyes had once held all the kindness and love in the world... but by the time she had finally passed away from her illness they had lost their light. All those months as he sat by her bed hoping for a miracle, the doubt had eaten away at him, and by the time my mother's suffering had finally been put to an end all the kindness in his eyes had been chased away, replaced by the trauma of watching the woman he loved die. Being ten years old at the time, I hadn't known how to help, all I knew is that I wanted, and very much needed, my old Dad back. The caring, smiling, happy Dad that had taken me to the park every weekend, the dad that had tucked me into bed every night and promised me everything was going to be alright...

I sighed, remembering how he had spiralled into the depression, how he would sit at the kitchen table with his face in his hands and cry when he thought I was asleep, or how the fake smile he wore at the beginning in an attempt to protect me from the truth had slowly faded into an unmasked expression of pure grief. It had been too much for him to pretend to be happy, and in a way it had been my fault. If he hadn't have been trying to shield me from his grief, maybe he wouldn't have bottled it up like he had, and maybe it wouldn't have become too much for him to bare, and maybe, just...maybe, he wouldn't have felt the need to take his own life.

My mouth turned into a scowl. _That doesn't mean Danny's going to do anything rash..._

_Doesn't it?_ A not-so-confident part of my mind questioned.

Another memory surfaced; of when we had been in the clearing and Danny had been talking to me about the horrors of his imprisonment.

"_...Though, eventually I broke through their restraints..." he chuckled darkly, "...Caused them a lot of trouble that day, I think a few of them might have even been fired because of it." His eyes gleamed as he recalled the memory, and there was something chilling about the calmness in his expression, as if he were having a completely normal conversation._

_My face, if it had not already been paper-white, would have paled. I knotted my fingers at my side, containing the urge to comfort him for what had to be the hundredth time. "...Then what...?" I prodded._

_He looked at me, his eyes returning to the present. "Hmm... I guess...-" he sighed deeply, his eyes breaking away from my face to stare at something behind me with the utmost intensity. "I guess-" he said slowly, "...that that was when I knew." He shivered, closing his eyes. "...When I knew I wasn't getting out alive."_

_His eyes burst open suddenly, and they searched mine before his mouth broke into a smile, catching me off guard. "Well, at least... I _thought _I wasn't getting out... But I guess you all had to come and prove me wrong." He said. As a side thought, he added. "Maybe I should have given up sooner..."_

_I looked at him incredulously, not quite believing what he was saying. _

_Danny Phantom... the one that had stood up to me and others countless times, even when he knew the chances weren't in his favour... who kept his life a secret from his own parents to protect them... who made bad jokes at the beginning of every battle just to agitate his enemy that little bit more... _hadgiven up?

Danny Phantom never gave up. _Ever. His stubbornness and determination had been what I had most admired about him, despite the fact that we were, for the most part, enemies._

_My eyes looked up hesitantly and met his. He was looking straight at me, though I could tell his mind was elsewhere. His expression reminded me strangely of a lost puppy. The fight in his eyes was dulled, not entirely erased but seemingly buried under a layer of sorrow; much like how a dandelion would be buried under a layer of snow in the winter. He looked tired, not just 'I've had a long day' tired, but the bone deep tiredness of someone who had seen too much of the world and just wanted to turn their back and close their eyes forever._

_What happened to him in there must have had more of an effect on him than Vlad had first feared. He's not just changed, but an entirely different person. _

"_Come on..." I said, nudging him slightly on the shoulder to get his attention. My voice sounded almost shaky. "...Your _Danny Phantom_...You can't have given up, you must have had a plan or something... you always do." I said hopefully. _

_He looked at me sadly, his mouth becoming a thin line as he thought over his response. That was another thing that was different, he actually stopped and thought about what he was going to say- what he was going to reveal- before he replied. That was so unlike him... he had always been quick to reply, usually with some kind of joke or cleverly disguised insult._

_His expression turned vulnerable, and for brief moment I caught a glimpse of the frightened child hidden behind his lifeless eyes. _

"_You're right..." he said softly, "I did have a plan." _

"_Then how come you never... carried it out?"_

_He sighed and closed his eyes, the trace of a smile on his lips. "I tried, many times." He said. "...But something always went wrong." His mouth widened into a smirk as he looked up at the sky. "...it's a good thing, too... At least... _I think_ it's a good thing." _

_I blinked rapidly. "What? How could that possibly be a good thing?"_

"_Because..." he propped himself up on his elbow so that he was facing me, impatiently tugging a few stray strands of his stark white hair out of his eyes. His gaze intensified, the large green orbs demanding all of my attention._

"_...My plan wasn't to escape." He said slowly. "It was to die."_

_..._

I gritted my teeth together and continued my tapping against the floor. _It's not the same._ I assured myself._ Danny's been through more than what Dad did, it isn't surprizing that he was willing to try anything to get away from it. _

Danny's voice echoed through my mind. _"You wouldn't last a week before you slit their worthless throats..."_

I shivered inwardly, trying not to visualise it. I had no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have been able to spare the humans if they had done to me what they had done to him. It was amazing that he had lasted so long without killing them, and even when he had, he had only killed one agent. The amount of self-control that would have taken... _to have to walk away and leave them with their lives when they had so totally destroyed his... I couldn't have done that. I _wouldn't _have done that..._

_So how could he?_

I stood up suddenly, making my way across the room so that I could peer out the window. The view looked out across the forest, and since we were on the third story, we were just above the tree tops. The view was beautiful, and quite calming. I let my thoughts drift...

_I need to find a way to help him. I need to show him that there are still good things in the world._

I walked over to the dark mahogany desk and rifled through a few draws until I found some paper and a pen. After risking one last fleeting glace at the bedroom door, I exited the office and went off in search of Danielle.

* * *

After almost twenty minutes of searching, I found her curled up in the games room in front of the fireplace. She had a blanket draped over her, and a pillow propping up her head as she ploughed her way through a novel. On closer inspection, I discovered that the title was _Oliver Twist._

"DANI!" I exclaimed, rushing across the room to her in speeds that would frighten most humans. Dani seemed unfazed, but her eyebrows rose as she cast her book aside.

"...Yeeesss?"

I sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of her, balancing the pen between my thumb and forefinger as I spread the paper out on the floor. "I need you to tell me what cheers you up."

Dani sat up, eyeing me cautiously. "Why? I don't need cheering up."

"Because, Danny is really sad at the moment and needs something to lift his spirits. He's unconscious right now, so I can't ask him; and anyway, I want it to be a surprize." I explained. "And you're, like, Danny's clone and stuff, so I figured you guys would_ like_ the same stuff and that asking you would be just as good as-"

"Whoa, slow down." She said, interrupting. "Why is Danny unconscious?"

"Uhh... Danny needs to go through a procedure that will make his human half healthy again. He's going to be asleep for a few days." I said carefully, leaving the violent parts out. "But he'll be okay, don't worry."

She considered this, cocking her head to the side. "So... we need something that will cheer him up?"

I nodded.

"Then... why don't you take him home to see his family?"

I frowned, imagining the implications. Vlad had said not to tell Danielle about Danny's situation, but I didn't owe Vlad anything. And it wasn't like he could order me around like one of his employees.

Besides, Dani had a right to know... to an extent.

"Well, I don't think that would be a very good idea. Do you remember how when you first met him, and he hadn't told his parents that he was half ghost? Well, he still hasn't. And since he's been gone for so long, they're going to want an explanation."

She frowned. "So I take it he doesn't want them to know the truth?"

"Well, I can understand why. I mean, they're ghost hunters who think they're son is _dead_. If he shows up on their doorstep and starts floating around, they're going to be suspicious." I said, dropping the pen on the floor and sighing. "Plus, he doesn't want to tell them what he's been through. They've already had their fair share of worry this past year, and he doesn't want to make it worse."

"He's going to have to go back eventually though, right? He can't just leave his family thinking he _is_ dead. The longer he waits, the harder it's going to be."

I blinked, shocked at her insight. Sometimes I forgot how young she was...true, she had the body of a twelve year old (?), but _mentally_ she was only... what? 2 to 3 years old?

"I know, but you know how Danny is. He'll want to keep putting it off as long as he can." I said, shaking my head softly. "Anyway, that's not what we need to think about right now. We need to think of something to cheer him up."

Dani looked down at the floor and traced patterns in the carpet with her finger, looking thoughtful. "Well..." she began, looking up. "When I'm upset, I like to shoot stuff. Not people or anything, but it's nice to get your frustrations out on inanimate objects." She said, considering. "What about we take him to an old junkyard or something? There's plenty of stuff to blow up there."

I laughed, adding 'Blow stuff up' to the list. "Ok, what about something... less violent?"

"Umm... Adrenalin rushes?" she suggested. "We could go skydiving."

"Dani, he can fly..."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "I do it all the time. You fly up as far as you want, and then revert back to human form until just before impact. Well, I guess _you_ couldn't do that, but it's basically the same, minus the human part." She mused.

I scrawled_ F-r-e-e-f-a-l-l-i-n-g _across the page in block letters, putting a tiny question mark on the end.

"Okay, so far we have something destructive and something scary; what about something that's calming?" I pressed.

"OH, I know!... camping!" she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. "I mean, I've never been, but I've always wanted to go. Please Ember? Can we go camping? It will be really relaxing too, and we can take wulf in case we get lost."

_Camping... I guess it could work. We don't even have to go far, I mean, there's forest everywhere here._

Wordlessly, I added 'camping' to the list.

Dani cheered, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Awesome! This is going to be great!"

I cleared my throat, smiling a little. "Remember that this is for Danny, alright? He's the one with issues."

Dani's expression became the reincarnation of trouble. "Of course." She replied, smirking.

I laughed softly, tapping the pen against the floor for a moment. "Anything else?"

Dani's playful mood vanished, turning back to the task at hand. Joking aside, she really did seem to want to help her 'cousin'. "Well, what about we do something that reminds him of how good his life was before he was kidnapped? That way, he might want to go back home faster." She suggested, shrugging. "We could just do something normal, like eat at the Nasty burger or something." She paused, eyeing me "Or maybe we could hunt some ghosts."

I gave her a quizzical look. "Ghost hunting? I don't know if that would help..."

"Of course it would! This way, he gets to shoot stuff, get an adrenalin rush and do something he feels at home with, all at the same time."

I looked down at the paper and frowned, scrunching it up into a ball and lobbing it into the fire. "Fine. Ghost hunting it is."

I looked over at Dani, who was watching the ball of paper disintegrate in the fire. She turned to me and opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again and went back to watching the fire. She seemed at war with herself, as if there was something she wanted to say but couldn't get the wording right.

"What is it Dani?" I asked, following her gaze and staring at the flames as well. Human fire was strange... I was so used to the green stuff...

When Dani turned to me her face was a mask of concern. "It's just... We still get to go camping, right?"

I burst out laughing. _Out of all of this, that's what she was worried about?_

"Sure, kid." I snickered. "We'll go camping real soon."

* * *

I wandered down the hall, slowly making my way back to the room that contained the unconscious Danny. It had been a few hours since I'd left; after the list making, I'd stayed and chatted with Dani until it was time for her to go to bed. I'd just put her to bed in one of many guest rooms, and now that I was alone, the worry and doubt about Danny's condition was creeping back.

I phased into the office and crept up to the door that lead to the makeshift infirmary. I froze for a moment, biting my lip before I knocked sharply against the hardwood, waiting for a reply.

When there was no reply, I decided to phase inside.

The room was cold; a meat locker compared to the office. To my right in the far corner, Danny was lying on a plush looking single bed. His chest was left bare, putting his extensive array of scars on display. I sucked in a sharp breath and walked closer, lifting my hand to cover my mouth.

Once I was standing next to the bed, I could tell that the injuries he had told me about back in the clearing had been hugely undermined. There was barely an inch of skin between each scar, and a lot of them overlapped each other. One of them in particular made me feel immediately ill – a jagged pink line that slashed its way from his left shoulder diagonally across his stomach and finally ended at his lower abdomen. It looked as if it had been inflicted by something with a jagged edge; such as a shard of glass. I flinched away automatically, shaking the thought out of my mind.

My eyes moved upwards to his face, and I realised with a start that the procedure had already been carried out. The boy's hair was raven black, and if he were to open his eyes, they would be a brilliant azure-blue. His cheek bones jutted out disturbingly, as if the skin had been stretched over them. There were dark circles under his eyes which made it look as if he hadn't slept in weeks.

A thin scar stretched across the length of his neck, and my earlier thoughts of Danny's contemplated suicide came swimming into focus. _Surely he hadn't actually tried..._

My hand stretched out, and I let the tips of my fingers trace the scar on his neck. The boy shivered, gasping as a puff of blue mist escaped his mouth; though he didn't wake. I jumped backwards, startled by the sudden movement and slammed straight into Vlad; who had been standing behind me the whole time.

"Gah!" I spun around, eyes widening as they took in Vlad's depleted form. He stood with perfect posture as always, but his eyes conveyed a wariness that had nothing to do with how many hours he'd slept. His eyes flickered to Danny (or rather, to his scars) and back to my face, his eyes pleading and desperate.

"Did you know it was this bad?" he demanded.

I shook my head. I knew it was bad, but nothing like this. This was-

_How was he alive? It's Impossible. Has anyone checked his pulse?_

"I had no idea. I thought they'd only detained him, not used him as... as a test subject." I stuttered. "How could anyone do this?"

Vlad merely shook his head; delving his hand inside his pocket and retrieved what appeared to be a piece of paper. "I found this in his pocket." He said, flinging the paper at me. I caught it and turned it over, revealing a photograph of a young girl, probably five or six years old.

"Do you know what it is?" I asked. I don't remember Danny saying anything about a little girl back in the clearing...

Vlad shook his head. "I have no idea, I was hoping you knew."

I stroked my thumb across the girls face, trying to conjure up some recognition. "What if-...if she was another prisoner? She could be a ghost." I said, scrutinising the photo. She didn't look like a ghost, what with her tanned skin and non-glowing eyes.

"I doubt it." Vlad predicted, pacing over to the bed and checking one of the machines that the kid was hooked up to. "Why would he have a photo, if that were the case?"

"I was just putting it out there Vlad. It's not like you're exactly _brimming_ with ideas." I retorted, glaring at him. _How was I supposed to know who the girl was? And why did he seem angry that I didn't?_

"I don't need _ideas_." He growled, turning to face me. "I have a _plan_."

"A plan? To what... exactly?" Most of Vlad's plans resulted in something that would benefit him and his thirst for power; whether it be ruling the ghost zone or his acquisition of Danny as a foster son. I couldn't imagine anything good resulting from one of his plans, which was why I was hesitant to ask.

Vlad pulled another object out of his pocket, turning it over in his hands and frowning at it. "I also found this-" he held up a small ID card "-In Daniel's pocket. I'm planning on tracking this 'Paul Brent' down and demanding some answers. Maybe he knows why the agency wanted him so badly... and why they didn't kill him. They must have needed something from him; otherwise there wouldn't have been a Daniel left for us to save."

I nodded. That's what I'd been thinking earlier. They wouldn't have kept him alive if they hadn't of wanted something with him. "Do you need me to come with you?"

He shook his head once. "I'll go alone. I need you to be here for Daniel when he wakes up. I should be back in no more than a week, depending on the circumstances." He paused for a moment, thinking things over. "Hopefully just a few days."

"Wait... are you leaving now? What am I supposed to do with all of this?" I gestured at the medical equipment, raising my eyebrows. "I can't work this stuff."

Vlad sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm leaving in a few hours. Daniel's condition has stabilised a lot faster than I anticipated, and therefore I will be removing most of it before I leave. None of his... _injuries, _were in need of medical attention; and there's nothing I can do about the scarring." He said through clenched teeth."The only thing you need to worry about is this-" he put his hand on top of one of the machines, one of those things that measure your heart rate. "You don't need to click anything, but if the warning tone sounds, which is unlikely, you'll need to inject him with this." He held up a syringe, this one filled with a glowing green liquid. "It'll transform him back to his ghost half. That way, his human half will be preserved until I get back and can give him proper medical attention. Got it?"

I nodded. "If the thingy beeps, stab him with the strange glowing fluid. I think I got it all. But what about when he wakes up, presuming nothing goes wrong?"

"... That's why you're here, isn't it? I'm the brains, and you're here because you know how to deal with children in a way that won't make them cry." He said, smirking.

"But...! I don't know how to deal with kids who've been tortured!" I stammered. _Why couldn't there be someone else to do it? I'd probably make things worse! What if-_

Vlad's smirk widened into a full blown grin. "Well, it was you or Spectra." He explained. "I think you can understand my choice; I couldn't have that vile woman _leeching_ off the poor child."

I shivered. I hadn't ever much liked Spectra; she seemed to be more inhuman than the rest of us, as if she had not even a tendril of humanity left in her entire being. The thought of having her leech off of Danny's misery made me feel physically sick; let alone how she would most likely try and make things worse for him. Embedding doubt and despair in people was what she did best... and Danny had enough of that right now without her contributing to it.

"Fine." I said, glowering. "But I'm still a free agent. You aren't my boss, and you never will be; I'm just here for the kid." I smirked, crossing my hands over my chest to match Vlad's pose. "Besides, I don't like you. The sooner you're back the sooner I can get out of here."

At this, Vlad chuckled. He didn't seem fazed, and definitely not surprized. "You don't like many people at all though, do you? Oh well, no big loss for me. I don't exactly revel in your company, either."

"Glad we understand each other."

His grin widened. "Indeed so. Wouldn't want there to be a fight now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself." I amended. "I haven't fought anyone in a while... and I'd love the chance to kick your butt." I figured the small group of agent's I'd blasted (before Vlad had returned with Danny in tow) didn't exactly count as a fight. They had been ill-prepared, and we... well, hadn't.

He wagged a finger in front of me in a teasing manner, seemingly taking pleasure in my annoyance. I reminded myself that this was Vlad Masters, a man that was known to take pleasure in messing with people's heads. "Temper, child."

I clenched my fists by my side, ignoring the sharp sting of my nails digging into my flesh. "I. Am. Not. A. Child!" I yelled back at him. _Nobody called me a child... especially not this creep_. As far as I was concerned, our allegiance was over; We'd worked together in hope of locating Danny, and we had succeeded. Now that we'd accomplished our goal, the truce had been left null and void. Now there was nothing stopping me from attacking him and teaching him a bit of respect...

Movement caught my eye from over Vlad's shoulder. As my eyes trained in on it, I realised that it was Danny; stirring in his sleep. His fist clenched up in the blankets, and he rolled onto his side, curling up into the fetel position and letting out a small whimper.

I sighed. ..._Nothing to stop me... besides that..._

"Look what you did." I said quietly, shooting him daggers. "You made him have nightmares."

He shot me an incredulous look, shooting a glace over his shoulder at the teen, and then back at me with confusion. "What? How is it _my_ fault?"

I walked over to the exit and paused in the doorway, rolling my eyes at him. "Dude, everything's your fault. You're the creepy old arch-nemesis guy who picks fights with people a quarter of your age. Who doesn't have nightmares about you?" I shivered, adding emphasis to my statement. "You're, like, made of nightmares."

He glowered at me, pointing an accusing finger in my direction. "I don't pick fights!" he growled. "_AND I AM NOT SIXTY YEARS OLD!"_

I stroked my chin with my hand, pulling the 'contemplating face' I reserved especially for sarcasm, or when I just generally wanted to piss someone off. "Actually, that would make you _sixty-four _years old. Danny's 16, remember?" I said, tsk-tsking him. "You ought to work on your math."

And with that, I phased through the floorboards; leaving the sound of Vlad's protest behind.

I stormed down the hallway, fuelled by my rage at the ignorant man upstairs. Everything he did just seemed to infuriate me... from his uptight attitude to his stupid labyrinth of a house. _I mean seriously! How did anyone find anything around here?_

By the time I found the main living room –the same one we'd been in when Danny had arrived- I'd already plotted my _agenda; _which was just a fancy way of saying I was out for revenge. A smile lit up my face as I spotted Wulf -that dog-like creature that could claw his way through the dimensions- in the far corner of the room, still curled up snugly in front of the fire. I hadn't really been properly introduced, but at the moment, any company that didn't involve the snob upstairs was good company.

"Hey _Wulf!_" I shouted, causing him to jerk upright in surprize as I flittered across the room to him. Once I reached him, I grinned (somewhat evilly) and folded my arms across my chest.

"The old geezer upstairs is going out of town for a while..." I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "What would be your view on, say, a little ..._social enrichment_?"

Wulf made a confused noise, scrunching up his nose. "Vi volas diri ... festo?"

"Isn't that generally what you do when you have an entire mansion to yourself _...With no adult supervision_?" I asked enthusiastically. "Besides, Vlad's being a jerk; there's nothing like a good old fashioned house-trashing to settle the scores, right?"

_Vlad thinks I'm a child? Fine; I'll show him a child... Or rather, an extremely pissed off adolescent with good connections and mansion to burn._

_Besides, _I added subconsciously, _Danny needed to de-stress, get away from adults and rules for a while. _A party sounded like just the thing.

"Mi ne ŝatas tion." Voiced Wulf, giving me a worried look. His mouth was pressed in a tight line, but there was a glimmer of interest in his pupil-less eyes; giving me the impression he wasn't _completely_ opposed to the idea.

"Great!" I shouted, ripping out my cell phone and beginning to scroll through the contacts, (What? Just 'cause I'm dead doesn't mean my social life has to be.)

I shot Wulf a mischievous grin as I held the phone up to my ear, waiting for the call to connect. "I'll make you a deal, keep this between you and me, and I'll pay for the pizza." I said, winking.

Wulf smiled; just a tiny, barely there, hint of a smile. "Kial i ricevas la senton ĉi finos malbone?"

* * *

Lol, If you want translations, I suggest Google translate.

Yeah, I know, Kind of a filler chapter. I guess. And I'm sorry I'm late on the update (only like two days, come on!) but I had a particularly nasty English speech to write about child beauty pageants or some sh!t. I ended up watching toddlers and tiaras for three hours straight and still not having any idea what to write about, so I decided to procrastinate and check my inbox-

**HOLY FREAKING COW MUFFINS!** _**116 REVIEWS!**_ Are you guys serious!

I love you guys! Seriously, like, that's fricken incredible. I'm so surprized that I got this much response to my question that I just might implode. (-Squeals with joy-)

I can't thank you guys enough, you have all made me one happy person filled with... happiness...

Ok, yeah, bad engrish (See what I did there?)... but I'm tired and shiz from typing this up for you. So I'll get down to business.

First up! The results from the poll have been tallied, and the winner is...

(DRUM ROLL PLEASE...)

_**!OPTION 2!**_

...By far, I must say. Guess you guys (Most of you) prefer evil(ish) Vlad? Hmm...

Don't worry peoples who voted for _option Uno_, 'cause I have a little something in mind for all you Vlad lovers out there later on in the fic. Let's just say, one of the reviewers gave me an idea.

And to all of you who reviewed, (Stares at screen in shock) I'm sorry, but I haven't had time to reply to you. A lot of you were guest reviewers, so that can't be helped, but still, I feel mean. I may get around to it later, but then again, I may not.

Lastly, I think a little celebration is in order for the 100 review milestone. I was thinking about how a lot of people ask the readers to answer a question in order to win some kind of prize, and I thought: _Why don't I let you guys ask _**me **_questions?_

It can be about ANYTHING! Except, you know, my address and stuff, that's kind of private, but other than that, use your imagination! Ask about something in the story that you don't understand, or favourite character from the fandom, which SAW movie I liked the best, or my favourite type of pasta... I'm really looking forward to seeing what you can come up with. And if I like your question, I'll post it (and the answer) at the end of next chapter, along with your pen name and such. (YAY! PUBLICITY!)

And there's PRIZES!

(Based on which question I thought was most imaginative, or liked the best)

1st place: An OC in the story. (Minor character that will be attending Ember's party. Moar on that later) And a one-shot request. (Danny Phantom based only) Plus I'll leave a really long & nice review on one of your stories.

**2****nd**** place:** An OC (Same conditions as above) And a review (See above)

**3****rd**** place:** A review, and some virtual cookies.

_**Ask away my pretties! **_

Ok, next chapter should be out in about a week. Danny will feature in next chapter, so don't worry all you who missed his crazy-ness in this chapter, cause he's coming back. He just needed a rest from me being so mean to him. ;)

'till next time...

_**-Laura-**_


	6. Insomnia

**DARK PLACES**

**By Phantoms-apprentice96**

**Chapter 6**

**'Insomnia'**

* * *

_Insomnia is an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge._

_-Sidonie Gabrielle Collette_

* * *

Rain cascaded down the windows, creating spider web-like patterns on the outside of the frosted glass. Every now and then I'd catch a glimpse of something in its surface from the corner of my eye; _my Father's disappointed face, Dash Baxter's smug expression, Paul Brent's unforgiving eyes... _But every time I turned to look at the image head on, all I saw were my own restless azure eyes, blinking in confusion. Every time, the image would toy with me and dance out of reach when I confronted it. ...Every time, I'd be forced to look away from my own reflection, troubled by the dark circles under my eyes, the hollowness of my cheeks, and my own paranoia as my eyes darted quickly away, searching for more false threats.

Or, more accurately, threats that _did _exist, but probably weren't going to materialise in this room.

_...I hope..._

No matter how long I waited -sitting up in bed tangled in a mess of blankets- no monsters sprung out from the shadows. No ghosts from my past threatened to destroy me... and yet I couldn't stop the feeling of dread and anticipation that had built up in my chest; making it almost impossible to sleep.

The candle by my bed flickered, making me flinch. I'd sat in the semi darkness alone, almost completely still for hours now; committing every detail of the room to memory over and over. I couldn't help but feel frightened whenever any of the details changed; such as the flickering candle, or when the shadow of the tree outside cast upon the wall would disappear every time the moon went behind a cloud. Half of me hated the changes; holding onto the instance that change back in the facility had usually been for the worst. If things stayed the same, I'd be _safe. Change was dangerous... Too dangerous._

I looked down at my hands for a moment, then reached behind myself and flipped my pillow over to the cool side; slowly lowering myself down so that I was resting on the pillow.

And yet, after sitting in this room alone, for hours... somehow change didn't sound so bad. _Here_, in the dark, with no one else around, it was easy to lose myself in my darkened thoughts.

Here, in the dead of night, with no witnesses, it was hard not to let myself cry.

Turning over onto my side I let out a sigh, expressing both my boredom and sorrow. Was it possible, after a whole year of being content with solitude that I was beginning to feel lonely? Now that I was surrounded by people I could actually have a normal conversation with, rather than the occasional threat or plea for mercy? Or was it the restoration of my human half that made me feel the need for socialisation? I'd had to resume all my other mundane habits; eating, drinking, sleeping... so why would the return of such a common human nature be of a surprise to me? Had I truly believed it to be lost?

_Maybe I hadn't expected it to return so quickly. This was a good thing, right? It meant that I was closer to being normal again, didn't it?_

I suddenly felt too hot underneath the blankets, so I flung them off – a little too violently- and watched as they formed a heap on the bedroom floor. Sitting up again, my eyes focused on the door leading to the bathroom. _A drink, that's all I need. _I told myself, swinging my legs around to the side of the bed. _Then maybe I'll get some sleep._

I looked down at my feet, wincing at the pearly pink blotches that covered them. _Burn marks. _My mind provided, after I failed to remember how I had acquired them. _Hot coals, remember?_

Pretending not to acknowledge the voice, I slowly lowered my feet to the ground, grimacing as they touched the cold wooden floor. Grabbing the bedside table for support, I raised myself from my sitting position and stood; pausing a moment and letting the pain in my chest lessen. After a moment's deliberation, I decided to leave the candle where it was and instead tap into my ghost half's night vision –turning my irises a toxic green.

I held my hands slightly out to my sides, keeping my balance. I counted my steps, letting the pattern soothe my nerves as I crossed the room. _1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8. _

I reached the door and secured my hand firmly around the handle, turning to peek over my shoulder. Everything was as it was supposed to be; the candle still burning dimly on my bedside table, and no monsters seemed to be taking the advantage of me having my back turned. _Good,_ I thought, nodding in approval. _There's nothing to fear, see?_

Turning the knob I stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Inside, the air was colder, though only by a few degrees. Hardwood flooring became slick white tiles, and the dark blue walls of the guestroom had been replaced with a paler shade of the same colour. There was a shower tucked into the corner of the room, which was perfectly square and no bigger than ten feet (The room, that is. Not the shower ;)). In the other far corner was a toilet, and next to that was a towel rack positioned below a medicine cabinet. The object of my desire, a pearlescent white hand basin, stood directly in front of me as I entered the room... and above that, an exact copy of my fatigued face looking back at me.

The image was so much more vivid than the reflection in the window pane. Here in the mirror, it looked as if there were actually another me stuck inside the reflective surface, rather than the faint outline of my features the window provided. Here, I could see the shadows with much more clarity, along with the light –or there lack of- in my eyes. The figure in the glass' eyes widened as I walked forward, seemingly locking eyes with me.

_They-... I look so __**dead**__... _I thought with a hint of shock. I was both captivated and horrified by my appearance, having not seen it properly for more than a year. _Is this what everyone else sees? Is this why everyone's so worried?_

I reached a hand up and spread my fingers out in a fan, touching fingers with the person in the mirror. _That can't be me... how could I possibly look so dead and still have a heartbeat?_

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a knocking sound came from the door. Turning around, I realised that it must have been coming from bedroom door, not the bathroom, since I'd forgotten to shut it. Acting quickly, I turned on the tap and splashed my face with the cold water, grabbing a hand towel and hurrying from the room. I dried my face with one hand and used the other to open the door once I reached it; narrowly avoiding tripping on the pile of blankets I'd left haphazardly on the floor.

Ember was standing on the other side, carrying a serving tray. It was decked out with chocolate chip cookies, a hot cocoa... and two suspicious red and white pills.

"I knew it." She said, barging past me into the room. She gave the pile of blankets on the floor a brief glance before stepping around them and setting the tray down on the bedside table, quickly making herself comfortable on the edge of my bed.

"Knew what?" I asked, tossing the towel on the floor and following her lead; taking a seat beside her.

She eyed the towel as if to say 'I hope you don't expect me to pick that up'. "That you'd still be awake." She said instead, switching her gaze to my face. "You've officially turned nocturnal on us, haven't you?"

I reached across her and grabbed a cookie from the tray, nibbling on it thoughtfully. "I have _not_ turned nocturnal... I can't sleep during the day, either." I confessed.

She let out a troubled sigh. "Nightmares?"

"More like _can't get to sleep in the first place_." I muttered, setting the barely touched cookie down on my lap after I realised I wasn't hungry. "But if I did manage to get to sleep, I'm sure that would be the next problem."

She sighed. "I know I should try and say something reassuring right now, but you're probably right." she said, eyes glazing over in thought. "I can't say I envy you... but then again, I don't get to sleep, like, at all... so I'd never have that problem anyway."

I nodded, looking down at the ground. "Is it like that for all ghosts? Or just some?"

She looked up at me, scrutinizing my half hidden face. "I hope you're not getting any ideas..." she warned, scowling. "It might seem like a way out, but in the end it will just lead to more problems for you. If you were full ghost, there'd be no way to conceal yourself from the GIW..."

I looked up at her and smiled, amused. "Ember, I have no intentions of suicide, alright? I was just curious... jeez."

"Good. Because if it even crosses your mind for the tiniest second, I'll suck you into one of those stupid thermos and shake the crap out of you until you can't even remember what you were thinking about." she said jokingly, though I knew there was an underlying truth to what she'd said. _Just don't do it. Don't even go there._

"Ok, ok I won't." I laughed, meeting her eyes with a humorous expression. "Heaven forbid I be trapped in the Thermos." I added sarcastically.

Her expression turned accusing. "You wouldn't be laughing if you knew what it was like to be in one of those things."

My mouth twitched upwards. "Actually, I would. My sister is pretty miserable when it comes to aim." I told her, shaking my head fondly. "Try four times in one night."

She let out a bout of laughter. "Remind me to give your sister a trophy. She did what so many of us have wanted to do to you for a _long_ time; in fact, I think I'm finally at peace with myself after hearing that." she joked.

"Oh haha." I muttered, eyeing the tray again and clearing my throat. "So, uhh... what are those pills for, exactly?"

She stopped laughing and eyed the tray, as if she had forgotten they were there. "Oh yeah... antibiotics." She explained, picking them up and placing them in her palm. "To prevent any infections while your immune system is busy putting itself back together. Vlad said you'd be pretty susceptible to viruses and stuff for the first few weeks, and told me to give you these." She held the pills out, which I hesitantly took.

I held one up between my thumb and forefinger, eyeing it suspiciously. It wasn't that I didn't trust Vlad... but I guess after so long of seeing him as my enemy, taking strange pills he'd left me didn't seem like a good idea. "Vlad says a lot of things." I said sceptically, placing the pills in my pocket for 'later'. "Like how he told you he'd be back in a week. It's been what? Nine days now? How long does he expect his stupid business trip to last?"

Something I said hit home for Ember, but she quickly went about concealing her worry; making me immediately suspicious. "I don't know. He hasn't been in contact since he left last Monday." She said, scratching her chin. "I was starting to wonder where he'd gotten to myself."

"Maybe he just ditched us... Like Wulf did." I mused. Wulf had decided to leave three days ago, just hours after I'd woken up from the influence of the morphine. He really hated staying in one place for very long, but I kind of wished he could have stayed for a while longer. Not having him around made me feel exposed... _vulnerable without my fighting partner..._

She lightly punched my shoulder, making an unconvincing attempt at lightening the mood. "Can you imagine him missing an opportunity of fretting over you? I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can." She said, rolling her eyes. "If I were you, I'd enjoy the freedom while it lasts; because once he gets back he's going to be watching you like a hawk."

I groaned. "That's true."

Ember sighed and got up, dusting off her pants. "Well, I'll leave you to your... not being able to sleep-ness." She said, walking over to the door. "There's only a few hours before the sun comes up, but maybe you'll be able to drift off... I'll be out in the study if you need me. Just yell... or whatever. I'll hear you." she said, phasing through the closed door and leaving me alone again.

I looked at the tray of assorted goods and sighed, not having the stomach for it. I nudged the tray away, 'forgot' about taking the pills and swung myself onto the bed, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. _Ok, so maybe I'll be able to get a few hours of slee-_

It was that moment that the candle decided to flicker out of existence, leaving the room in complete darkness. Between it being caused by a draft, the flame drowning in its own puddle of wax, or something more sinister such as the presence of a demon, my mind automatically suspected the latter; choosing now to reminiscent in the montage of horror movies I'd seen over the years due to Sam's interest in the supernatural. I immediately retreated into the corner of my bed (the bed was pushed up into a corner) and hugged my knees to my chest, suddenly wishing Ember would come back, but not being able to let go of my pride in order to call for her.

_Maybe I can stay awake a little longer..._

* * *

**...**

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_My head felt heavy, despite the fact I seemed to be lying on my back. My parched tongue slid against my closed lips, begging for them to open and supply my body with much needed water. I wouldn't need food as long as my core continued to create ectoplasm, but water was still necessary for this body, a weakness inherited from my human half. I could last longer than a human could without water, but it had already been at least seventy two hours, not counting the amount of time I had been unconscious, which was unknown to me. It could have been minutes, hours, days even. Whatever the case, I would need a drink soon._

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

"_... it's working sir, he's waking up." said someone close by, sending icy cold splinters of fear through my body. I knew that voice... but I couldn't seem to put a face to it..._

"_Good work, doc." _

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_I was surrounded by the bustling sound of people at work; most likely readying equipment for my next torture session. I knew that I should have been concentrating on that, but for some reason my mind wouldn't focus on anything but a neurotic beeping sound that kept making me more irritable with every-_

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_Beep..._

_It didn't help that the constant stress of my captivity was making me more and restless. I didn't seem to be able to make rational decisions anymore... I acted mostly without thinking, as if some outside force was taking the controls when my own mind seemed so completely incapable._

_Beep..._

_Beep... _

_Beep..._

_For the love of-_

_My eyes opened and I shot up into the sitting position. Angrily, I ignored the people standing around me, instead turning my head to the left and gritting my teeth when I saw it; an expensive looking monitor adorned with the typical GIW insignia._

_Before anyone in the room could respond, my fist flung out at the source of the sound, sending it toppling to the ground and making a satisfying smashing sound as it impacted. There was a sharp stabbing pain in the crease of my elbow as the needle was dislodged, but I ignored it, instead letting out a short spontaneous laugh and narrowing my eyes at the remains of the device._

Stupid, naïve, Monitor; thinking you could get away with taunting me. Maybe next time you'll-

_I shook my head violently, hands pulling at my messy strands of hair. _What the hell, Fenton? Picking fights with inanimate objects is Dad's job, _get a hold of yourself! I instructed, finally glancing back at the other occupants of the room and regarding them almost sheepishly._

_There was a brief moment were nobody moved, but everyone seemed to recover quickly, and before I knew it, there were at least four guns pointed at my head. I froze, and two of the stronger looking agents came towards me, grabbing my shoulders and slamming me back onto the examination table while another two handcuffed me. I sighed internally; that was what I got for losing my cool._

_Once I was slightly less of a threat to them, the agents backed off, returning to their original positions. I stayed lying down, not wanting to bring the brute force down on myself again. A second later, a man I'd never seen before cleared his throat and stepped forward._

"_I don't suggest trying something like that again, Phantom. I won't have my prisoners damaging my equipment. Next time I won't be so lenient, and you will face a proper punishment. But that's not going to be necessary, because you're going to follow the rules, aren't you?"_

_I shrugged, giving the man an indifferent look. _

_Out of nowhere, he pulled out a knife. It was almost exactly the same as our butcher knife at home, but this one glowed a dull green, indicating it was probably harmful to ghosts. He gripped the handle hard, and it came sailing down towards my face, missing it by less than an inch and burying itself deep into the table. He pulled his hand away, studying my expression._

"_Aren't you?!"_

_I gulped. "Y-yes. Of course-"_

_He smiled, pulled the knife out of the table and put it back wherever he had pulled it from before walking around to the foot of where I lay._

"_I'm so glad we see eye to eye." He grinned. "Sit up, then. I have a few questions for you." _

_I took a deep breath and obeyed. I ended up sitting with my legs crossed and my bound hands sitting in my lap. My eyes searched his, trying to find any remorse in them, but there was nothing but coldness in his calculating gaze. I thought my glowing green eyes were creepy, but they were nothing compared to his heartless brown ones._

"_Housten, pass me the remote."_

_I managed to pull my gaze away to study the cuffs. The cuffs, which I had disregarded at first, actually seemed quite formidable. They were obviously high tech and quite expensive looking; much like most of the equipment I'd had the pleasure to be acquainted with. There was a resemblance in design from them to a small hand held remote, which the man deemed Housten was holding gingerly. I watched in horror as he passed it to the psychopath at the foot of the table._

_There was a dial on it, and an obnoxious looking red button, but apart from that, it seemed to lack further features. _

_I swallowed deeply. I doubt that thing results in a positive outcome... for me anyway._

"_I see you like my new toy." He grinned menacingly. "Hopefully, you won't have to find out what it does. Now, like I said before, I have a few questions for you. Let's start with something easy..."_

_He seemed to stop and think for a moment. "Ok, Phantom. First question, how old are you?"_

"_Uhh... f-fifteen." I replied. Why was he asking? I'd already been asked that question multiple times before..._

_The man looked impatient. "Yes, yes... you died at fifteen... But how long have you... existed?"_

_My eyebrow shot up. This man obviously didn't know as much as I thought he did. "Actually, I became a ghost when I was fourteen; I'm fifteen years old now. My birthday was six weeks ago..."_

_The man's jaw unclenched. "Is that a fact? I'll be sure to put it on my calendar..." he said sarcastically. "Ok then, new question. How did you die, Phantom?"_

"_Uhh... I... I was electrocuted... freak accident..." I said, eyeing the remote in his hand cautiously. _Just give him what he wants, maybe he won't hurt me. Maybe he'll be lenient. Maybe he'll let me go back to my safe, dark cell.

_He raised an eyebrow, and a menacing smile lit up his face. "How... interesting."_

_I frowned. Did I miss the joke?_

_He looked intently at me then, eyes narrowing slightly in anticipation. "Ok, now for something a little... harder." He cleared his throat. "Who were your parents? What were they're names?" He asked, grinning because he knew he'd reached my limits. "It's ok Phantom, I just want to have a little chat with them..." he said teasingly._

_I swallowed deeply, knowing that pain was coming. "I... I-I can't tell you that."_

_His face lit up; like I had just delivered the best news he'd received in a long time. His eyes left mine and focused on the remote, where he fiddled with the dial briefly, and pressed the button._

_Sharp, white hot pain cascaded from my wrists and up my arms, shooting down my back, up my neck, everywhere. Within a second of that monster pressing the button, I was consumed by it, making my muscles spasm and my teeth chatter. My head arched back and I let out a pained scream, but the pain continued to eat at me like an acid. I had felt this once before, it wasn't something you forgot, being electrocuted by a portal. This was worse, back then I had thought I was dying, while right now it felt like I was being ripped apart from the inside and was going to have to deal with the after affects._

_The electricity reached my core, and the pain increased tenfold. I was on the verge of blacking out when suddenly the pain disappeared; as quickly as it had come._

_I gasped for air. My muscles still jolted randomly as the lingering strains of electricity left my body. I realised I was now lying on my side. I didn't remember falling. A full scale coughing fit erupted from my lungs, and to my horror I began coughing up ectoplasm. I noticed I couldn't hear anything but a forceful ringing sound which I assumed indicated that my eardrums were damaged. I opened my eyes, but the onslaught of fluorescent lights stung them, causing them to tear up, so I clenched them shut again. I stayed still, waiting for them to sedate me, to put me out of my misery, to do anything. But no one seemed to move, I was left to suffer through the aftermath as coughs racked my body, making me gasp for air constantly._

_After what seemed like eternity, the coughs subsided, and the ringing in my ears lessened. I curled up in the fetel position, feeling suddenly cold._

_I heard footsteps coming towards me. It was the man with the remote, the one that had asked me the questions_. I hated that man. Why was he near me?

_A strong hand gripped my shoulder and rolled me onto my back, causing a cry of pain to escape my mouth._

"_I'll ask you again, phantom. Who are your parents?" In that moment, with the level of anger I felt towards him, I could have sworn that I'd met the embodiment of pure evil. I remember thinking that this man couldn't be human, that he must have been some otherworldly creature hell-bent on destroying all that was good in the world._

"_I-I'll never tell you." I whispered with as much venom as I could muster. "You're a monster..."_

_The man laughed; a wretched, nightmare provoking laugh that echoed through the room and all around me. It was all I could hear; that is, until he bent down to my level so he could speak into my ear._

"_Goodnight." He whispered coolly, pressing the button._

* * *

_This was another reason why I hated being alone;_ I thought bitterly as the memory ended. _When I was alone, I had time to remember. I had time to retrace my experiences and relive them again and again. _Sure, it wasn't as forceful or vivid as one of my hallucinations, but memories could do just as much damage, if not more.

_Especially_ when the memories seemed to like surfacing in the dead of night... while I was cornered by my own fear.

I sighed inwardly. _Goodnight..._ That had been the word that had condemned me to a year of torture, the loss of everything I'd ever known.

The word I ended a man's life with.

_Not a man, a monster._ A voice in my mind corrected forcefully, refusing to see even a hint of wrongdoing in my actions. _He deserved to die. They all did, and still do. If you had any sense, you'd be hunting them all down right now._

I laughed nervously at the return of my old cell companion. I guess, back in my cell, all of that solitary confinement had led to what my sister had once described to me as 'Auditory Hallucinations'- something that was common amongst people who suffered from schizophrenia, or had gone through a particularly traumatic event. I guess I fitted into the latter category, though it was possible that I was suffering from a mixture of both. Who knew? I was pretty much the epitome of crazy right now; why not add schizophrenia to the growing list?

The voice was strange; not quite my own, but still... me. Sort of like the little devil on your shoulder scenario, where it tried to influence you to do bad things. However, the voice wasn't exactly evil... just a lot more angry and violent and... _motivated _than I was. It had been like a best friend; there for me when no one else was... but instead of doing what normal friends did, like driving you home because you're blind drunk, it was there in different ways. Like keeping my hopes up by envisioning the painful deaths of my abductors, playing the visions over and over in my head like a much loved movie reel.

Except... sometimes, it hadn't seemed like _just a voice_. There had been times, very dark and painful times, when all my strength had faded in a struggle and I was just trying to keep my eyes open, that it had... done things. Small, subtle things, like keeping me on my feet when I _knew_ my legs should have given out already, or forcing me to comply with an agent's orders when I just couldn't find the energy to make my body function anymore. _Small, helpful_ things; but unnerving all the same.

_And if you had any patience, _I shot back; letting my mouth tip up at the sides, _you'd realise that now wouldn't be a very good time for that._

Lately the voice had been distant, a mere feather light presence in the darkest, most unexplored parts of my mind; not unhappy, but not entirely comfortable either, now that we were out of direct danger. It just lingered passively; always present, but never interjecting its opinion on the situation before now.

I heard a sigh that was not mine, showing that it was either uncomfortable on the subject or worried about something. _It's you. _It huffed, sounding almost sulky. _The weaker you get, the more I have to take over. You're sleep deprived._

I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest securely and leaning back against the wall. It was still night time, but the sun couldn't have been far away. _Don't you mean __**we're**__ sleep deprived?_

_Did I say that? _It asked sarcastically. _No, I didn't, because unlike you, I was wise enough to catch up on some well-deserved beauty sleep while you were busy staring at the walls._

_Keeping watch. _I interjected, biting my bottom lip.

_For what? Peeling paint?_

I rolled my eyes. _Oh yeah, that's exactly what I was watching for._

Another sigh_. Why don't you get some sleep and let me take over for a while? I'll make sure the paint stays where it is._

My eyes widened, half in amusement and half in doubt. _No way. You'll probably go on a vigilante mission or something. I have enough to worry about. _

The voice seemed amused when it replied. _Fine. But if you don't hurry up and sleep soon, you won't have a choice. ...I'll be __**forced**__ to take over. Maybe you should try counting sheep or something._

I snorted, getting up off the bed and rubbing my eyes. My fear of the shadows seemed to have vanished and been replaced with the presence in my mind, making me feel suddenly braver; less exposed. I knew that I should have been worried, but it simple enough to shove the presence temporarily out of existence if I wanted to... and besides; with it, I had something else to think about...

With it... I didn't feel so alone.

* * *

Upon entering the kitchen, I realised that the atmosphere was thick with worry. I'd walked down the hall and into the main kitchen, in search of some orange juice, and found both Ember and Dani sitting collectively at the dining table with grim expressions. I stood in the doorway and folded my arms over my chest, watching as they tried to banish the anxiety from their faces.

"Danny... we didn't expect you to be up..." Said Danielle, giving me a wry smile.

I walked forward, not returning the smile. The feather light presence in my head was suddenly very _there; _anxious about what they were hiding. When I spoke, I wasn't entirely sure which one of us had actually spoken, seeing as we both wanted to know the same thing.

"What is it?" I said, eyes flickering to the window in search of any threats. "What's going on?"

"Nothing... everything's fine." Ember said quickly, gripping the edge of the table so that her knuckles whitened. "It's nothing, right Dani?"

"Right." Dani relayed; her expression unsure. "We were just... talking about...t-the party..." she stammered, looking away from me. "We decided it wouldn't be a good idea after all."

Ember kicked Dani from under the table, looking up at me sheepishly. "Yeah, uhh..."

"_What_ party?!" I demanded, feeling more and more edgy. _How much were they not telling me? What the hell was going on?_

Ember flinched, shooting Dani a venomous look. "Yeah, a-about that... See, I was planning to have this big party to celebrate your homecoming, but like _Dani said, _we're not going through with it anymore. We didn't tell you because it was going to be a surprize, but now it doesn't matter." She waved it off with a hand gesture, giving me a coy smile as if to say _What can you do?_

I let my arms fall to my sides and set off towards the fridge, watching the pair from the corner of my eye. Once my back was turned and I was pouring myself a glass, I broke the silence. "A party huh? Sounds..." I trailed off, taking a swig and turning around to face them, leaning against the counter. "... A little rash... Did you ever stop and realise that all of my friends –which amounts to about half a dozen people, maximum- think I'm dead?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and eyeing them sceptically. "It doesn't sound like a very thought through idea."

"I wasn't going to invite any humans..." she explained, sounding nervous as she spoke. "Just forget it, ok? We aren't having the party anymore anyhow."

"...Why?" I asked pleasantly, directing my icy cold gaze at her.

Ember opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a sharp trilling sound. I flinched away from the source of the noise, which happened to be a mere cell phone. Ember looked down at the caller ID and blanched, quickly getting to her feet. "I _really_ need to take this..." she muttered hurrying towards the door. "I'll be back in a moment."

As Ember left the room, I could feel the presence in my mind grinning in triumph. _Are you thinking __what I'm thinking? _It asked, directing my gaze to my female clone.

I rolled my eyes. _Obviously, since we seem to be sharing a head at the moment..._

I placed my hand on the back of Dani's chair, bending down to her level so that I could look her in the eyes. "Care to tell me what's going on?" I asked, keeping my voice kind. She looked pretty shaken by whatever had happened, so being angry at her wasn't going to help her open up to me.

"Ember said it was really important that you didn't find out." she said, knotting her hands nervously in her lap. "But I think maybe you _should_ know... I mean, he's _your_ friend, not ours..."

My mind automatically conjured up a picture of Tucker Foley, a childhood friend of mine that had stuck by me since forever. Out of all the people I knew, he was probably one of the ones that would have suffered most from my year long absence. The thought of something bad happening to him left me feeling nauseous. "What happened, Dani?" I insisted, letting a measure of worry seep into my voice. "I don't care what Ember said... you and me are practically related; that means that we tell each other stuff, right? That we can _trust_ each other..."

Dani sighed. "Well, we aren't exactly sure, but-" She dropped her voice to a whisper, cupping a hand around her mouth and risking a glance at the door before she continued. "...Wulf's missing. Skulker came through the ghost portal this morning to let us know that he hasn't been seen by anyone since he left here." She said, watching me nervously.

My eyes widened, but I forced myself to focus. "Wulf's a pretty peculiar guy, Dani. It's not uncommon for him to disappear for weeks at a time. I'm sure he's-"

She shook her head urgently. "That's not it, though. There's a rumour going around that he'd been captured by a group of humans... so when Skulker heard about it, he automatically assumed it was the same humans that had captured you, and came to warn us. Apparently there was a witness, but Skulker said the details were a little sketchy-"

I felt my blood run cold, making it feel like I'd been injected with ice water. _**Why couldn't they just leave me alone!**_ I screeched into my head, wanting to curl up into a ball and disappear. _I'm just starting to get my life back... why can't they just do something else?! I'm sure there are other ghosts out there that have done far worse things than I have...!_

_Look, can you calm down? Maybe he's just-_

_No! Don't you see? They're never going to leave me alone... it's just one big game for them! I'm never going to be safe... they could be outside right now..._

My body let out a heavy sigh and stood erect, completely without any instruction on my behalf. Before I could think to reassume control, the manifestation quickly placed a solid barrier between me and it. _Don't even think about it. _He sighed, an undertone of regret in his 'voice'. _I'm not giving you back until you calm down._

My throat cleared. "_Danielle? Do you know who Ember's on the phone to?"_ I heard myself ask. It felt so strange, as if I was sitting in a cell made of one way glass. I could see everything, hear everything, feel everything... but I wasn't in control. It reminded me of being possessed, except now I was conscious of things in a way that someone who _was _possessed never was or could be. After being possessed, you had the feeling that something was wrong... that you'd _done_ something wrong, but you barely ever remembered it; and if you did, it was only segments of memory that seemed to be tied to nothing.

_Give me back my body! _I seethed, trying to thrash my arms. The only visible sign of my outburst was the faintest twitch of my right arm, though it was quickly controlled again.

_It's your own fault. _He scorned. _If you weren't so weak from lack of sleep, you'd actually be able to fight me off._

Outside the confines of my head, Dani was deep in thought. "It could be Vlad." She suggested, shrugging. "Or maybe Skulker, but he only just left about twenty minutes before you walked in, so I don't see the point..."

"I wonder if Vlad's been informed yet." The imposter mused, turning to glance at the door. "I'm sure he won't be very happy to hear this."

Dani looked concerned. "You seem so... calm. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Would you rather I go on a homicidal rampage? I can arrange that if you'd prefer." He said cockily, wriggling his eyebrows in question. "I'm sure Wulf will be fine. He can take care of himself... and if he has been captured, we can easily bust him out again, right?"

"Yeah... I guess."

"Don't be worried, Danielle, It'll be fine, I promise." He said, winking. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed."

She did a double take. "What? But you just got up!"

"I know, but I just feel a little... disjointed." He mused, smirking. "I'm sure I'll feel better after a few more hours sleep."

And with that, he guided us over to the exit and stepped out into the hallway, searching for signs of life as we went. He withheld his smug composure all the way back to the room, leaving me wishing I could grit my teeth.

Once we were in the confines of my temporary bedroom, he finally let go of his grip on me and retreated to the back of my mind, coaxing me to regain control. He seemed complacent, maybe even a tiny bit apologetic... but there was no anger emitting from him, which surprized me.

My stride faltered as my body switched operatives, but I managed to make it over to the bed before I collapsed in exhaustion. I lay there for a few minutes in silence, trying to sort my jumbled thoughts.

I should have known that the peace wasn't going to last.

_So... am I forgiven?_

I considered giving him the cold shoulder, but decided it would be pointless. _If you never do that again, maybe._

_I didn't really have a choice, you know. You were about to pass out anyway._

_Yeah, because I just found out that I'm still being pursued. _I thought angrily. _How are you so level headed about it?_ _Do you not remember what we had to go through because of these people?_

_Of course I do. I just don't think having a mental breakdown is going to help our situation at the moment. We need to think about this-_

_What do you know? You're just a stupid hallucination._

There was a short pause, no longer than an intake of breath. _You go ahead and keep thinking that, but I'm pretty sure I just proved you otherwise._

Too tired to argue anymore, I fell silent; keeping my limbs in lockdown just in case he tried anything. Stretching out on the bed and making myself comfortable, I finally allowed my eyes to close. _Screw you. _I whispered to my mind, letting the drowsiness set me on the course to unconsciousness. _You better not move me while I'm asleep._

A half mocking, half menacing laugh echoed through my mind.

_Goodnight._

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, I know, I know... the chapter is late and stuff. I have excuses, but I'd rather not waste my time describing my hectic life to people who probably don't care. ;)

Umm, I have a little apology to make. You see, in the last chapter, I set up that little competition where you could ask me a question and win prizes. Well, one of the prizes was an OC in the story, but due to a minor short term plot change, and my general reluctance to include OC's in the first place, that will no longer be one of the prizes. I'm sorry guys, but I tend to turn OC's into Mary Sues, so I think this decision may be for the best. To make it up to you guys for changing my mind, everyone who asked a question will win a prize, so here is my list of winners:

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi-Cat

FirestarterX

A-Bookworm-Named-Steph

Shadowdib

Zinnia99 (Guest Reviewer)

shikibo

ChopSuzi

Heracelio

You all (except Zinnia99, cause you don't have an account) can PM me and tell me whether you'd prefer a nice long review on one of your stories, or for me to write a one-shot on a topic of your choice (As long as you don't make it too hard.)

As for the rest of you, below are the answers to the questions these people asked. Feel free to not read these :P

P.S: people who submitted more than one question (I'm looking at you, A-Bookworm-Named-Steph and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi-Cat) I just picked a couple of them to post here because I'm lazy as hell. ;)

_**Q&A**_

_**Submitted by: **__**Rikki-Tikki-Tavi-Cat**_

_**What is your zombie apocalypse survival plan? **_

Oh shit. Am I the only one that doesn't have one? Uhhh... run, I guess? Preferably with a large arsenal of weapons at my immediate disposal. Or maybe I could live in one of those bubble things.

_**If you had a penguin, what would you name it? **_

Voldemort, for sure. (Don't ask me why, cause I don't know.)

_**What is the funniest name you can think of? **_

Slabrankle. (it was the name of one of my fish before it died)

_**In a movie theatre, Which armrest do you use?**_

Both. I don't like sharing. ;)

_**Submitted by: **__**FirestarterX**_

_**What kind of party person are you? I mean, are you the kind of person who sits in the corner of the room trying to be invisible, or do you chug a beer in the middle of the floor, dancing to I'm Sexy and I Know It while swinging your shirt over your head before passing out, and waking up in the morning and going "Whoa, dude. That was epic!" ( That's me!) **_

Well, I'm the kind of person who gets more and more spastic the longer I go without sleep, so by about three o'clock in the morning I'm pretty much at the beer chugging stage you described above. (Minus the shirt throwing, cause you know, I'm a chic and that would be weird) ;)

_**Submitted by:**__**A-Bookworm-Named-Steph**_

_**What color is your hair? **_

Really dark Brown. (Black except in sunlight.)

_**What's your favorite color?**_

Blue, but purple and green come a draw for second.

_**What's your favorite movie ?**_

Anything in the horror genre, and 21 jump street cause it's f***ing hilarious.

_**Do you have a pet?**_

A dog named Nova, and a goldfish named Megatron that ate all my other goldfish. :'(

_**Submitted by: Shadowdib**_

_**What do you think of the timeline in Ultimate Enemy? Do you think that the fight was really possible considering the time/space implications? And do you agree with the theory Clockwork kind of caused it to happen, and why or why not?**_

I never really saw anything wrong with it, but it does seem a little farfetched when you think about it. I always just assumed Clockwork was all powerful and can do whatever the hell he feels like.

_**Submitted by: Zinnia99**_

_**Since some of the ghosts that are usually villains are taking a break at being evil and are working together and helping Danny who has changed the most?( as in caring,helping,and etc.)**_

_I assume you're talking about This story? Cause if you are, you might have to wait and see. I don't want to give anything away. I hope you understand._

_**Submitted by: **__**shikibo**_

_**Do you wanna be a teddy bear? :D Not that one from Toy Story, but a nice cute teddy bear.**_

_No, because teddy bears only get a few years of love before they're either discarded or abandoned in the attic. I don't like attics at the best of times, so definitely no. Nice question, BTW. ;)_

_**Submitted by: ChopSuzi**_

_**If you were to write a book and publish it, what genre do you think it would be?**_

_A book? Hmm... well my favourite genres are Horror, thriller, teen angst (Obviously) and maybe a little fantasy, so probably one of those. I really like writing about insanity too, if that helps. (Don't think that's a genre?) I'd love to write my own Novel, but I wouldn't make it in the writing business. So many authors get rejected nowadays. _

**Thanks for all the questions guys! I had fun seeing what you guys came up with. And once again, sorry about the OC thing. (Especially you, Steph!)**

**Next chapter should be out-**

**Eh. Why do I even bother. I say it'll be out in a week, it ends up taking three weeks. I say it'll be in a month, and it ends up being a couple of days. I can't seem to win when it comes to deadlines. I'm predicting (But not promising) sometime in the next fortnight. I'll see how it goes. **

**To me this chapter seems a bit weird, but it's the best I could do. I tried to write it so many times, and I ended up with like five different versions. The next three chapters have been extensively planned however, so they should be a little easier to write. And if this chapter seemed pointless and slow, TRUST ME, Sh*t's about to hit the fan. Remember Vlad? Yeah? heheheh poor, unfortunate Vlad... he really went looking for the wrong guy, didn't he?**

**;)**

**-Till next time,**

**-Laura-**


	7. Breaking

**_DARK PLACES_**

_**By Phantoms-apprentice96**_

**_Chapter 7_**

**_'Breaking'_**

* * *

_You can't break a man the way you break a dog or a horse, for the harder you beat a man, the taller he stands. To truly break a man's will... to break his __**spirit**__, you have to break his mind._

-The Jackal (Far Cry 2)

* * *

Something shifted in the shadows, just out of my line of sight. The room was almost in total darkness, save for the small amount of illumination my ghostly aura still emitted; casting eerie shadows along the surrounding walls and creating a less-than-helpful nightmarish atmosphere. I flinched away from the movement, knowing in my heart that it was fruitless. Chains criss-crossed my chest, wrapping around my arms, torso, even my neck, keeping me firmly held in place. My eyes stung, but it was the fact that I couldn't remember **_why_** that scared me the most. Green liquid trickled down my forehead, staining my cheek and dripping from my chin lazily. The wound from which it bled had begun to heal, but the pain from the blow was still fresh; and the actual cause of it was left unknown to me. I felt the desperate urge to scream, to shout accusations at my attackers... but my mouth was filled with a harsh white fabric, preventing any form of sound to escape my lips.

Instead, I watched fearfully for the approaching shadow. I felt a dizzying sensation of déjà vu; but I knew I'd never been here before. This room wasn't real.

I _was_ dreaming, after all.

However, despite knowing for a fact that I was only suffering on a subconscious level, I could sense the danger coming for me, almost as if I_**had**_been here before; as if I were reliving a long forgotten memory. But I wouldn't have forgotten this, there was no way. Each detail of the excruciating torture I'd been through this past year was etched into my memories whether I liked it or not. I wouldn't have forgotten this.

So it wasn't real. And it never had been.

I tried to believe it, to push away the fear; but something buried deep within me kept warning me that I _should _be scared, I _should_ try to stop what was going to happen from happening rather than sitting back and letting the dream take its course. But just like in most my dreams, I was left at the mercy of my attacker; nothing I did would free me from my restraints, and so I was left to endure whatever they had in store for me. That was, unless someone heard me screaming in my sleep and woke me up before I had to go through it; but the illusion of being gagged seemed to pass on to my physical body as well, preventing me from expressing my distress to anyone that might have been within earshot.

The room suddenly buzzed with the flow of electricity, and the room was quickly lit with harsh fluorescents. I blinked away the blur that seemed to be marring my vision, but once I could see properly, I wished I hadn't. The room was a typical laboratory set up; white on white, countertops strewn with various test tubes, documents, medical tools and weapons. I had figured I wasn't the only occupant of the room, but once the lights came on, I was shocked to discover just how right I was. Not only where there half a dozen agent/scientists scattered throughout the room attending to various tasks; but ghosts, as well. They lined the walls, secured in similar methods as I was. They were mostly humanoid in shape, the only exception being a small, whimpering dog that reminded me of the 'calm' version of Cujo. I didn't recognise any of the faces; but somehow that made things worse... _more real. _I scrutinised the different faces, all of whom seemed to be staring in my direction with an expression of pure suffering. _Help me! _Their eyes pleaded, shadowed by exhaustion and anxiety. _...Please, help me..._

I looked upon each face with sorrow, shaking my head just barely. _I can't. _I said, moist eyes begging for forgiveness. _I'm sorry._

The scientists abruptly turned their attention to one of the ghosts, as if they were all responding to a signal I'd missed. The spectre's appearance was that of a young boy who looked about seven, though his appearance was a dead giveaway to his undead status; His aura glowed brightly, reflecting his unease. His thin, wispy hair was pale blue, and his eyes were a pupil-less cloudy white; almost the same tone as his skin. As the scientists advanced, he gave me one last silent plea before reluctantly tearing his eyes from mine and turning to face the oncoming threat; his eyes deadened with the knowledge of what was coming.

_...I can't help you..._

_...I'm sorry..._

I watched, wide eyed, as the closest scientist – a female, I noted with muted surprise- revealed a menacing syringe filled with a strange, glowing blue liquid that seemed to pulsate with light. The boy flinched away from the needle and closed his eyes, hiding his face in the nape of his neck as the scientist plunged it straight into his upper arm.

Soon enough, the woman pulled away; but the scientists didn't take their eyes from the boy. They stood in a loose formation around him and murmured in hushed, yet exited voices. The rest of us -about seven ghosts in total- had all turned our attention to the boy as well, though our faces were masks of horror rather than excitement. The ghost next to me –a thirteen year old girl with crimson red hair and fearful eyes- let out a frightened whimper that pierced my heart with mirrored grief. I turned my gaze to her and tried to look brave. _It's ok. _I told her silently, though I failed to catch her gaze. _This is just a dream. It'll be over soon. It'll be ok._

Then, just as the thoughts went through my mind, the universe decided to prove me wrong once again.

It was the crow of delight from one of the scientists that brought my attention back to the boy. Instead of seeing him unconscious like I had found myself expecting, the boy's eyes were wide and full of pain. His face was contorted in agony, and he began thrashing desperately against the restraints that held him, leaving green-stained marks as the chains slashed his pale skin. He screamed through the gag, and his whole body began trembling as his aura flickered from white to cerulean blue. The light surrounding him intensified, then dulled, then intensified again; each time earning a new, increasingly desperate scream from the boy's obstructed mouth. His tiny body jerked as he managed to spit out the gag, but his screams were now blocked by the disturbing quantity of ectoplasm that had begun expelling from his mouth in retched coughs. Tears streaked his agonised face, tinged the same unearthly green colour. Strange, dark emerald blotches began appearing on his exposed flesh, and they reminded me strangely of the bruises that indicated internal bleeding; except that that was impossible, ghosts didn't bruise due to the rate in which they healed.

This was all impossible. _This shouldn't be happening._

With one last, violent convulse, the boy let his head droop; as if he no longer had the energy to hold it up. I leaned against my restraints, trying to get a closer look at him. _Was he unconscious? But-?_

The hushed whispers of the scientists became louder, more feverish. I soon saw the reason why. The boy's body had become slightly transparent, as if he were becoming intangible. There were only small, lingering spasms that ran up his spine and occasionally caused his body to twitch; as if he really were sleeping. I didn't understand what was happening at first, but a glance at the other ghost's faces told me what I needed to know. There was no other explanation for the amount of sorrow in their expressions.

They were killing him.

_But... you can't kill a ghost. _I thought helplessly, panic finally gripping me. _You can't-_

The boy was almost to the stage of invisibility now, and the scientists were all beginning to return to their workspaces; jittering excitedly to one another with words you'd have to have a PHD to understand. I felt eyes on me, and turned to see all the ghosts once again staring at me, equal expressions of sorrow. _I'm just a kid!_ I wanted to scream. _There's nothing I can do to save you! _

But the ghosts weren't looking to me for help; not this time. They're glowing eyes shone like a promise, each pair reflecting the light from the fluorescents above. They no longer seemed pleading, but instead... _pitying...?_

_Oh god... _I looked over at the scientists, who sure enough, were refilling the syringe with the same glowing blue toxin and eyeing me hungrily._ I'm next._

I gulped, turning to face the red haired girl beside me. She also looked sympathetic, but her eyes were soft as her mouth somehow, _impossibly_, hinted at a smile. In that moment, her scarlet eyes seemed to hold the secrets of the universe, damp as they were from the young boy's passing.

_Help me! _I begged her silently, the panic finally breaking through what was left of my calm composure. _Don't let them kill me. _

Her eyes momentarily flickered downwards, and when she finally looked up and met my eyes again, they were marred by overwhelming grief. Her sad, eerie voice echoed in my mind, as soft and subtle as a summer breeze. _They already have. _She whispered. _It's too late._

My eyes widened and I looked down; only to be consumed by a blinding blue light that had enveloped my entire being, shooting a spasm of pain up my spine with the sudden finality of death.

**_..._**

I shot up into the sitting position and put my hands in front of my face, sighing in relief when I saw that they weren't glowing. The relief was short lived though, because soon enough I was forced to clamp a hand over my mouth and rush to the bathroom, where I immediately emptied my stomach of what little amount of food I'd actually managed to consume. The taste of bile coated the inside of my mouth, so I grabbed a new toothbrush from the medicine cabinet and brushed for a good five minutes until the taste was mostly non-existent; then, after rinsing my mouth out with water, hastily left the bathroom and avoiding the mirror.

It was just on nightfall, meaning I'd slept through an entire day; quite the accomplishment considering my previous track record. The room was dark, with only the slightest rays of starlight illuminating the room through the open window. Ember was standing in the doorway, almost invisible in the darkness. I wouldn't have noticed her if it weren't for the way my eyes would routinely scan for danger, or if it weren't for the blue wisp of air that left my mouth as I re-entered my bedroom. Her intelligent blue eyes appraised me with their perceptive glow as I crossed the room. I sat down on the edge of the bed; then quickly shook my head to dislodge the remaining tendrils of nightmare before looking up and finally acknowledged her presence.

"Ember." I said simply, trying for lightness.

She entered the room without a word, coming to stand before me with her hands crossed over her chest before she finally spoke. "So you're sick now, I hear?"

I flinched, looking downwards. "Nah, Just... I don't really know how to explain it. I don't have the flu or anything, if that's what you're thinking." I said, shrugging as if it were no big deal. "It just kind of came over me all of the sudden."

She seemed to contemplate this, then reached down and grabbed my sleeve; yanking me to my feet. "Come on," she said, anchoring me to her side and pulling me along towards the exit. "Let's take a walk."

* * *

Ember led me through the labyrinth of hallways and into a room I'd never been in. It seemed to be the ultimate entertainment room, something Vlad had obviously put a lot of funding towards. It almost had the feel of an outdoor patio, complete with solid timbre decking and everything else an outdoor room would entail; though the room was truly a part of the house. The far wall was made entirely of glass, and through it, I could see out into the forest that surrounded the mansion and spread out across the mountainous terrain for miles. To my immediate left was a bar; sat snugly against the wall and decked out with lavish cocktail glasses and various brands of alcohol I assumed were quite expensive and difficult to acquire. A small, compact fireplace complete with smouldering coals sat in the far right corner, surrounded by various sized sofas, and in the far left; a large stainless steel barbeque and a dining table capable of comfortably seating twenty people.

"Wow." I breathed, allowing Ember to pass me. Then I smirked, realising what was bugging me about the room. "Hey, this room is obviously built to entertain heaps of people, right?" I asked, walking towards the fireplace. "Then why is it in Vlad's house, of all places? Vlad doesn't have any friends."

Ember laughed softly, but made no further comment. Instead, she walked over to the bar and went around to the back; where she retrieved two probably-never-used-before glasses and placed them on the counter. "You want a drink?"

I raised an eyebrow quizzically and wandered over, reluctantly taking a seat on one of the bar stools. "I assume you're talking about diet soda, right?"

She reached into the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle covered in a foreign script. I guessed the only reason she choose it was for its bright blue color; but to me, it was far from appetising. It reminded me too much of my nightmare...

"Want some?" she asked, already pouring herself a glass.

I frowned, noticing that she seemed to be avoiding my gaze. "Uh, no thanks. I'm sixteen, remember?" I asked, nudging the glass away from me slightly. Then; "I thought babysitters were supposed to set good examples?"

She scowled, setting the bottle down with a thud. Her glass was half full, but she had left mine empty. "I'm _not_ a babysitter, I'm just the poor unfortunate soul that got stuck with the job of looking after you two." She said, swishing the blue liquid around in her glass moodily. "And besides, I can't get drunk, so I assume _you'd_ probably be able to stomach a fair amount before you began to feel the effects." She said, taking a small sip.

My eyes widened momentarily. "You don't get drunk?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I could drink every drop of alcohol in this place, and I'd be as sober as ever. Don't have a metabolism, so..." she took another swig, set down the glass, and patted her stomach absentmindedly. "Ectoplasm pretty much dissolves everything, including anything with alcohol content. It's pointless really, for me –or any other ghost, for that matter- to consume anything. Mostly we just do it to reminisce in our 'glory days'." She waved quotation marks in the air, rolling her eyes.

I eyed the glass, which had found its way back to Ember's lips. "Well, if it's so pointless, why are you drinking _that_?"

She grinned. "I can still taste, dipstick. Just because the alcohol doesn't affect me, doesn't mean I can't taste it and at least _pretend _I'm enjoying myself." Her grin widened then, as if she were enjoying a private joke. "That, and I'd do anything if it meant giving Vlad a hard time. It may not seem like much, but when lots of little, annoying things build up; BAM!" she clapped her hands together in front of my face, earning a surprised jump on my behalf. "It's enough to make someone crack." She nodded her head in the direction of the trash can behind her, and I craned my neck to see. I let out a surprised laugh on seeing that it was filled to the brim with various empty bottles of expensive looking liquor.

"Really?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "That's what you've been doing in your spare time?"

She nodded, grinning evilly. "I gotta give myself _something_ to do, and wasting Vladie's _'hard earned'_ cash seemed like a pretty good idea. You know, I wouldn't be so bored if you actually bothered to leave your bedroom." She added, turning serious towards the end. "I never did find out what happened in the clearing after we left...?"

_So __**that's**__ what this was about..._ I thought, trying to look indifferent. "Butt kicking, mostly." I said, shrugging. "I was worried about their weapons at first, but turns out they were powered with ectoplasm, so that turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise, actually."

"So were you lying? About the letting them live thing?" She sounded casual, as if she wouldn't be troubled either way.

"No." I said firmly, closing my eyes and envisioning the picture of the little girl. "No, I wasn't lying. They're all still alive, unfortunately."

"You did the right thing, I guess." She sighed, sounding unenthusiastic. "Me personally? I would have sent them all to their graves; preferably in dozens of teeny tiny pieces. But you, you're like this... I dunno..." she waved her hands in the air, gesturing to me as a whole. "You've always been a goody-goody; s'long as I've know you, anyway. You just got dealt a really bad life, unfortunately; first with the half dead thing, and now this-"

"Being half dead has its upsides, I guess." I interrupted, not wanting Ember's pity. "I mean, how many people can say they fight ghosts every day?"

"Uh, Your parents?" She answered dryly. "Remember those fools in the in the brightly coloured spandex?"

"Oh yeah, I think I remember those guys. Jack and... Maddie, wasn't it?" I asked sarcastically. The pain of hearing their names pass through my lips was almost unbearable, and for a moment, I was lost in a daze as I tried to remember what we were talking about.

"Something like that." She agreed, but her smile faded. "You know you have to face them soon, right? You can't put it off forever."

I opened my mouth to answer, but the words died on my tongue as a deafening bang echoed down the hall, followed by the sound of shattering. I jumped to my feet and turned to face the doorway; hands by my sides and ready to summon a deadly blast of green fire if necessary. I expected Ember to jump into action as well, and when she didn't, I turned over my shoulder to look at her quizzically. The glass was pressed to her lips, hiding a smug smile as she rolled her eyes. "Relax." She muttered, sounding somehow amused and annoyed at the same time. "It's a friend."

My posture relaxed, though not by much. "Oh yeah?" I asked, not sure whether to watch the door or Ember herself. "And why, may I ask, is your_ friend_ trashing the place?"

"Because he's a-"

I never got to find out what he was, because in that moment, the door crashed open and revealed a very abashed looking Skulker. His huge metal suit barely fit through the doorframe, but he managed. I was surprised; not only from his presence, but also from the obvious difference in the way he looked at me. I was so used to his predatory, vengeful glare, that the sly smile he now wore seemed vastly out of place. There was still a gleam of mischief in the predator's eyes; something that always seemed to linger with anticipation of a hunt. He crossed the room towards us, looking as casual as I'd ever seen him; but there was still something in his grin that made me suspicious. It was too boisterous to be of good intentions.

"Long-time no hunt, Whelp." He said, acknowledging my presence with a slight nod and coming to stand beside me. He gave Ember the once over, his eyes pausing on her beverage. "Where's mine?" He asked, only half joking.

She stuck her tongue out at him and pulled the bottle away, just out of the hunter's reach. "Get your own rich old man to mooch off of; I've already called this one." She said, downing the remainder of her glass in a quick, fluid movement.

I side stepped away from the bulking armour suit, running my fingers through my tangled hair as a sign of discomfort. It suddenly dawned on me that last I heard, these two were together, and that it would probably be in my best interests to leave the room before I was forced to bear witness their affectionate displays. Even the detached voice in my mind seemed to agree. _Time to make ourselves scarce, _it warned. When I failed to move from my position, I felt a wave of irritation directed at me, but instead of pressuring me further it stayed silent; watching my thoughts as they passed through my mind and trying to figure out the reasoning behind my hesitation.

_Oh. _He exclaimed, fully backing off. He seemed to want to know the answer to my question just as much as I did, and his angry demeanour instead became a compliant one. _Yeah, I should have thought of that. My bad._

I cleared my throat and allowed my eyes to refocus on my surroundings. The glazed over expression on my face was quickly replaced with a quizzical one, and I resurfaced from my thoughts to realize both Skulker and Ember were staring at me with mixed expressions of confusion and alarm. I smiled weakly, but I knew I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Danny-" Ember began, but was quickly cut off by Skulker; who in that moment became absorbed in the computer screen embedded in his right forearm. His brows knitted together in confusion as his eyes darted from the screen to my face, but after a moment he switched the screen off and let his arm fall to his side. At the same time, Ember slammed her glass down on the counter and peered at him anxiously. "What? What is it?" She demanded, her voice tense.

Skulker barely registered her voice, instead choosing to have a stare down with me; his pupil-less eyes conveying his barely concealed confusion. I quickly realised that he was waiting for an explanation, but to what, I couldn't fathom. "Uh... Skulker? I can't believe I'm asking this, but are you alright?" I asked uncomfortably.

He didn't reply as he lent forward, his perceptive eyes tracing over my features with deliberate slowness. Our eyes met when his face was inches from mine, and in a voice just barely audible, he whispered;_ "I was __**just **__going to ask _you _the same thing, ghost child." _

With lightning quickness, the hunter righted himself and turned back to Ember, wearing a lopsided grin. "False alarm!" He announced cheerily, worlds away from the menacing tone he'd just used. "The hardwiring in my suit was damaged recently when my prey put up a surprisingly good fight. Not as challenging as our little _hybrid_ here, of course..." He trailed off, smirking. "But even so, I haven't had the chance to have it repaired yet, and my sensors have been causing all sorts of mayhem. I apologise, Ember, for raising any _concerns_." He almost seemed to purr at the last part, which left me in a place very far out of my comfort zone. So far out, in fact, that I feared I'd never find my way back. I had to fight to keep the disgust from my expression and stop myself from running from the room in a panicked scream.

Ember seemed to soften a little, but her eyes were suspicious. "You never apologise." She said simply, narrowing her eyes at him. "Something's up"

Skulker, to my surprise, didn't deny this. He merely smiled curtly, thrumming his large metal fingers against the countertop as he leaned towards her. "Trust me when I saw it's none of your concern, Ember. Now, why don't we continue our discussion from earlier?"

Ember let out a frustrated sigh. "_C_an we _please_ not do this now?" She said, eyes flickering to me for a moment, as if to make it obvious she didn't want me to overhear. "This isn't exactly the right _time_."

Skulker smiled slyly in response and turned over his shoulder, eyeing me with a cocked brow. I didn't like it; it made me feel like I was pinned down and being examined like some kind of experiment. Those bright gleaming eyes hid a forbidden knowledge, something he hadn't wanted even Ember to know. It was troubling to know that Skulker knew pretty much everything about me, due to all those months of stalking, but this new factor added a sharper edge to my discomfort. "Isn't it past your bedtime, ghost child?" He sneered, watching me curiously. _Watching me as if he __**knew **__I had no idea what he had been talking about._

I threw my hands up in the air, palms out, and began backing away. It would have almost been comical in other circumstances, but right now humour was the last thing on my mind. "I get it, I'm not wanted. You don't have to tell me twice." I said, narrowly avoiding backing into a chair as I edged further away. "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me, but then again, I somehow doubt anyone will."

Before anyone could stop me, I turned intangible and skyrocketed through the ceiling; relishing in the surge of energy that coursed through my veins as I ascended. If I hadn't of been so desperate to flee the room and get out of Skulker's calculating gaze, or maybe if I had of had more sleep, I probably would've realised that something was severely wrong.

If it had of been _any_ other time, I probably would've realised that I shouldn't be able to fly in human form.

* * *

It was only minutes later that the rush of flying ebbed away into something much more sinister. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or maybe it was the fact that I was running on an empty stomach, but whatever the cause it was making me feel unbearably ill. I sat on the edge of my bed, knees huddled to my chest, closing my eyes and clenching my jaw against the latest wave of shudders. It was akin to the feeling I got when I was in the ghost zone; an icy chill that seeped all the way through to my bones. This though, was worse. At least when I'd previously felt like this I'd known the cause; a large manifestation of ectoplasm in such a vast amount of shapes and forms that my ghost sense couldn't function properly and went into overdrive. The cold feeling was caused by the sudden influx of adrenalin coursing through me; my body's way of defending itself while surrounded by so many of my kind. But now, while safely tucked away somewhere in the human realm, I had no explanation for the chills that racked my body. The only sources of ectoplasm outside my own body were two ghosts and another Halfa, who were too far away to cause any reaction at all, let alone one to this scale. The only explanations I could think of for my sudden symptoms were borderline insane, ranging from the possibility of Vlad's portal somehow 'leaking', or another mass ghost invasion like the one I'd experienced during the whole Pariah Dark scenario. Both theories seemed crazy, even by my standards.

I heard the branches from the tree outside scrape against my window, causing me to jump up into the standing position. Vertigo quickly claimed me, sending me sprawling on my hands and knees as a lungful of air scraped its way up my throat in the form of a barking cough. The force of the cough sent spasms up and down my spine, and my head pounded in an irregular rhythm as I tried to right myself. I ended up propped up against the bedframe, sitting on the floor and waiting for the coughs to disperse. _The flu. _I thought glumly, closing my eyes and resting my head on my shoulder. _It really can happen to anyone._

The tapping noise from the window sounded once again, but this time it sounded more frantic. More like someone knocking at the front door than a tree branch tapping leisurely at the glass. I turned and looked over my shoulder, straining my neck so I could see outside. For a moment I thought I was hallucinating, but when I realised the familiar figure wasn't wielding a scalpel or a syringe like most of the figures in my imagination, I immediately got up and navigated over to the window, albeit slowly.

_Well, _the voice in my head thought; trying to mask his concern with annoyance. _There goes any chance we had of a relaxing night in._

_When have we ever had a relaxing night in? _I snapped, rolling my eyes and fighting the urge to have a nervous breakdown. _I don't think I even remember __**how **__to be relaxed._

My hands fumbled for the latch, but I finally managed to unlock it and pry the window open, allowing enough room for the figure to crawl through. He then proceeded to collapse on the carpet, his eyes half lidded with exhaustion.

"Wulf?!" I exclaimed, unable to hold back the shiver that accompanied my ghost sense. I quickly reached over and closed the window, trapping most of the warm air inside before it had a chance to escape. "I thought you... I-I mean, they said you were..." I wrung my hands nervously, edging towards him; eager to prove to myself that he wasn't a figure of my imagination. "Are you alright? Everyone was so worried about you..."

Wulf let out a low whining sound, casting his eyes downward. "_Wulf need help." _He said quietly, speaking in broken English. He let out a shaky sigh and sat up, holding out his hand and seeming almost guilty as he did so. It was bunched up into a fist, but he slowly unfurled it; revealing the crumpled remains of...

_...of...?_

"Wulf, I don't understand. What is-"

It was then that I saw the long, thin gleam of silver hidden amongst the other pieces; almost exactly the same shape as a pin. It rested in his palm in a way that wouldn't allow it to pierce skin, but there were small incisions on the inside of his hand that had been made from clutching the shattered pieces of plastic too tightly. The plastic was grey and broken into tiny fragments no bigger than a thumbnail, but it was easy enough to work out what it been before Wulf had gotten to it.

A tranquilizer dart.

"_Oh my god..."_ I breathed, picking up a piece of the plastic between my thumb and forefinger. The underside of the plastic was sticky with some kind of half-dry residue, gleaming black in the moonlight. It stained my finger and emitted a sharp tangy odour, making me crinkle my nose. "They tried to capture you, didn't they? How did you get away?"

In reply, Wulf coughed; holding the back of his hand against his mouth as if to shield me from it. After a few seconds, he pulled his hand away and brought it upwards so that it was level with his eyes. His frown immediately deepened.

"_Wulf not get away. Humans let Wulf go_." He said, not lowering his hand. "_But humans hurt Wulf first. Make Wulf sick and tell him to find friend before too late._"

My eyes widened in fear, not needing conformation to know that by 'friend' they'd meant me. But there was something else, something niggling in the back of my head like a muffled alarm system. I stepped forward uncertainly; "Wulf, why do you have this?" I asked, pointing to the shattered remains of the dart.

He seemed confused, as if he'd forgotten about it. "Humans tell Wulf to take it." He said slowly, as if it were only occurring to him now that it was an odd request to make. "Humans not explain to Wulf why he must show friend. Humans only say it was very important that friend see it."

"I don't understand..." I said again, rubbing my stained finger. _Why would they want to make him sick? Wouldn't they just kill h-_

I stiffened, succumbing to a sudden wave of vivid images that flickered across my vision like the pages of a flip-book. _The lab, chains, scientists, those frightened ghosts strung up on the wall like medieval prisoners, the boy with the white eyes, the syringe filled with that vivid blue toxin, ectoplasm seeping from the edges of the boy's mouth... _

_Death. Death and blue. The blue of the boy's hair, the blue eyes of the lady scientist, the ever so slightly blue-tinted light of the fluorescents, and that-... that poison they'd used to somehow kill something that was already dead. Biologically impossible, and yet-_

_"Nrgh!"_ I shook my head violently, trying to dislodge the images. _A DREAM! _I shouted internally, clenching and unclenching my fists. _Just a stupid nightmare! Not real... not a memory. Just a dream. _

I looked down at my finger uncertainly, holding the smudge closer to my face for inspection. No, it was definitely not the hellish blue color I'd seen in my dream. But then again, this stuff was mostly dried up, not to mention how dark it was in the room right now. What if it really was that stuff? What if-

"Wulf." I said anxiously, "Show me you're other hand."

Wulf's eyes flickered with worry. He hesitated, but eventually held out his hand for me to see, palm up. I took a final step forward and gingerly grabbed it, meeting his eyes. "You said they made you sick, right?" I asked, flipping the hand over and glancing at it.

My knees almost gave out. The back of his hand –the one he had coughed onto- was splattered in fluorescent green. I staggered backwards, clenching my eyes shut and rubbing my temples too roughly for it to be soothing. _Oh god... please no..._

"How long ago?" I asked, voice breaking.

"Three days." He huffed, taking his hand back and cradling it as if it were injured.

My eyes snapped open in surprise, not expecting it to have been so long. "That's impossible!" I gasped, staring at him in shock. "How have you survived for so long? The toxin would've killed you already if-"

I stopped talking, confused by Wulf's suddenly alarmed expression. It was only after I'd repeated to what I'd said in my head that I understood why he suddenly looked so distressed. "Oh." I muttered sadly, looking up at him apologetically. "They didn't tell you what was going to happen, did they? They didn't tell you how sick it was going to make you." It seemed obvious now that they'd leave me to be the bearer of bad news. The agents weren't going to let an opportunity of tormenting me just slip by without fully utilising it.

"Human say Wulf would get sick, not say Wulf die." He said quietly, eyes glazed over in thought. "How does friend know these things? Why is wulf going to die second time?"

I felt tears threatening to overflow, and quickly rubbed them away, sitting down on the floor and looking up at the loyal ghost sadly. "I don't know, Wulf. I don't really understand how my mind works anymore. I thought I was dreaming..."

Wulf gave me a look that obviously meant he hadn't understood a word of what I'd said. I didn't blame him; I didn't seem to be making a lot of sense anymore.

_What am I going to do? _I asked, putting my face in my hands. _I'm going to lose him. _

_Not if we act quickly. _The voice urged, trying to assure me. I could see the gears in his mind turning, formulating a course of action. I didn't even try to see what it was; too busy trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'd... predicted? _No that wasn't the right word_... but what else was there? I wasn't a prophet, I didn't have precognition abilities, and there was no way that it was just a coincidence. People didn't dream of stuff like this only for it to suddenly make an appearance hours later. Something was at play here. Someone...

Where the GIW somehow _sending_ me dreams? Was there a limit to the ways in which they could mess with my head? Or was it something worse. Not a figment of imagination, but of... recollection?

_You're losing it again. _The voice noted distractedly._ You have to stop working yourself up if we're going to be able to help him... maybe there's a way to stop this. We can work together, you know, like a team. Just like before. _

_I can't. _

**_We_**_ can._

I shook my head softly. _I can't do it. I can't do this anymore; never safe, always fighting to survive, and now- _I directed our gaze to Wulf, who was still staring off into the distance with that glazed over expression of someone who wasn't truly there. _Now they're attacking people I care about. How long will it be before they take someone weaker? Someone who wouldn't stand a chance? They'll go after humans, and then I'll have no choice. I'll have to hand myself over._

He almost seemed exited by my words, but he was deliberately tuning down his emotions for my own sake. _I don't know about you, but I'm not going out without a fight. _He said, taking control of one of my hands and clenching it into a fist. _Relaxation sucks anyway; gives me nothing to do. Chaos, on the other hand..._

I felt the tingling sensation of my body being taken over, but this time I found the strength to refuse. Anger built up inside me like a raging fire, and I shoved the presence away roughly. I wasn't necessarily angry with him, rather at the situation I was in; though that didn't stop me being moody.

I found that he'd been correct; and now that I'd had an adequate amount of sleep, it was easy enough to shut him out. I lurched to my feet, and after only a moment's hesitation, summoned the blue rings of light that switched me into my ghost half. The presence in my mind mentally flinched, not sure what to think of my new plans. _Are you sure this is the right way to go about this? _He questioned, astonished with my sudden change of heart. _What happened to just going where the wind takes us?_

I ignored his teasing tone as he quoted one of my earlier comments. _I guess you were right. _I admitted grimly. _I guess we're going to have to make a stand sooner rather than later._

I then turned my attention to Wulf, who still had the glazed over expression of someone who was not entirely there. "Wulf!" I snapped, receiving his immediate attention. I drew closer to him, choosing to use my lack of gravity to my advantage as I did so. It felt so good to be weightless again, especially after the last few days of Ember refusing to grant me the use of my powers. "Come with me. I think it's about time we had a little... _family meeting_."

* * *

_**(Switches to 3rd person POV for remainder of chapter. Sorry for any confusion)**_

* * *

"I am **_NOT_** going alone."

Skulker sat in a rigid pose, refusing to let his long term partner win the argument. The couple had had plenty of arguments, as one would expect from a pair of strong willed people, but this particular disagreement had been ongoing for the last ten days. Or, more accurately, since they'd joined forces with an assemblage of available fighters to ambush a prison.

And not just any prison, but the prison that held the infamous Danny Phantom as their most highly valued captive.

One could say that the argument hadn't exactly stemmed from the fight in any direct way, but it certainly became a factor when you considered the lead up to their particularly harsh quarrel. In truth, the fight was about who out of the two them, if not both, were going to take on the role of messenger for the currently absent multi-billionaire whose mansion they currently occupied. Usually, Vlad would not require a messenger for the current task at hand; preferring rather to carry out the deed himself. Unfortunately for the couple, Vlad had found himself too caught up in his own endeavours to carry out what needed to be done, and had instead palmed the job off onto one of his most faithful employees. Or rather, the first person Vlad always looked to when he needed a particularly miserable task completed: and unfortunately for him, that meant Skulker.

But this time, Skulker -having done the dreadful task once before- was taking a stand.

Or, so he'd thought.

The fiery female was now watching him with a measured expression of annoyance. He lips were stretched into a tight line, and her eyes were ever so slightly narrowed; but he knew that at any moment, her dignified composure could erupt into something beyond any mortal's worst nightmares.

He hated making her mad.

"Why not?" She demanded, her tone clipped. "I've been trapped here for days on my own, and you can't even handle a few _hours?_"

The hunter fought the urge to back off, knowing that the woman was probably close to violence at this stage. _I can't do it again. _He told himself, shuddering at the memory of the crying girl he'd been forced to endure. _I'm the ghost zone's greatest hunter, not some low-life postman. _He really wanted to come back with something witty, like: _"Yeah, and what do you think I've been doing for the last ten days? Haven't you noticed the sudden halt of ghosts trying to access the portal?"_ But he knew that if he wanted to make any progress, he'd have to play it calmly. Patiently, like he was cornering his prey.

"I know you've already done your fair share of duties, Ember; and all I request is your company. If anything should go wrong during my interception of the human, I wouldn't know how to resolve it. You know how hopeless I am when it comes to human emotions; they're just so... fickle."

Ember seemed to consider this for a moment, the slightest smile teasing on the edge of her mouth. "Skulker, as much as I appreciate that sort-of-compliment, you can't possible expect me to act as the caregiver to _both_ the Fenton children. Danny's enough of a challenge as it is, and that's without me trying to keep his sister in the dark about all of this." She reached across and placed a hand on his lap, almost –but not quite- a forgiving gesture. "All you have to do is give her a debriefing. Tell her a bunch of lies to keep her out of the situation for as long as we can, alright? If someone doesn't go see her, she's gunna end up on our doorstep wondering why we won't answer her calls."

Skulker groaned, putting his face in his hands. "I don't see why we can't just tell her. It would be so much easier..."

"Do you really want to get a human involved in all of this? What if it hasn't all just _blown over_? Do you have _any_ idea how much it would hurt him if something happened to his sister?" She paused, her eyes glazing over in thought. "...He'd be uncontrollable if something were to happen to his family. He's already so close to losing it..."

His response was cut off by the loud bang of the door being violently swung open. Both ghosts jumped to their feet and faced the noise, only to realise that it wasn't a malevolent intruder after all. The whelp, clad in his black and white jumpsuit, hovered a foot off the ground in the doorway; his eyes narrowed to slits and his white aura flaring to dangerously bright levels. _Well, perhaps he could be counted as malevolent. _Skulker noted. If it were any other time, he would have felt the urge to study the ghost child's spiking energy level, but at the moment he was held in place by the teen's fuming expression, not daring to move a muscle towards him.

Ember looked more concerned than anything. "Danny? What the hell are you doing? I told you not to use your ghost form."

For a second the boy's eyes glazed over; much like they had earlier when skulker had noticed something seriously awry. It looked as if his attention was split, like whatever he was thinking of was taking a lot of his concentration. "Why should I listen to you?" He said in his echoing voice, sounding more eerie than Skulker remembered it being. "All you ever do is lie to me."

"What are you talking about?!" She snapped, echoing the hunter's own thoughts with slightly more malice. It wasn't her fault, not really. Ember had been driven into the ground lately, not wanting to cope with the stress but having to tolerate it anyway. It was only expected that she'd be at least a little fed up.

Phantom, on the other hand, had every right in the world to be angry. Nobody was going to ask why.

Not after what he'd endured.

"What am I talking about, she asks." He chuckled darkly to himself, still wearing his glazed over expression. His aura flickered dangerously, pulsating in sync with his emotions. "Does that mean there's more than one lie, Ember? Because it sounds as though I can't trust a word that ever came out your mouth." Phantom's head cocked to one side; a predator daring its prey to try and escape.

"I haven't lied to you, Danny." She said earnestly, wringing her hands in a nervous gesture. "Why don't you come in and sit down? Come in and tell us what's bothering you."

Skulker noted the immediate hostility in the Halfa's eyes. Ember had used a tone that made it seem as though she believed the whelp was nothing but a child throwing a temper tantrum. This, he knew from past experiences, was only going to make him angrier.

"I didn't come so you could talk down to me, Ember. I came because my friend, whom you so blatantly disregarded, needs help." He spat, moving further into the room. Behind him, a bulking figure as black as midnight emerged from the shadows.

Wulf.

"But he-" Skulker began, only to be silenced by Ember's glare.

Phantom continued glaring at Ember, all but ignoring him. "See..." he began, reaching behind and pulling Wulf gently along with him. "You know how you had that ingenious idea to _not only_ keep Wulf's predicament a secret from me, but to also completely avoid taking any action to help him? Well, it's just backfired. Badly."

As if to back up his claim, Skulker's equipment immediately began a shrill warning cry. The LCD monitor embedded in his wrist sprung up; demanding his attention. Words and numbers flashed across the screen, warning him about a possible threat. It wasn't something he'd ever imagined could possibly be a threat to him. To mortals, most definitely. ...but to a ghost? Impossible. Despite the implications, his monitor continued screeching, and the same words kept reappearing despite his efforts to override the system and shut it down. Words the well-aged hunter had never seen, nor ever expected to see, in the entirety of his afterlife.

_Bio-Hazard. Possible contaminating substance in current vicinity. Please take immediate action._

Both Ember and the Halfa had now turned their attention to him; and he realised that they were both waiting for some kind of explanation. A distant portion of his mind noted that Phantom didn't look overly surprised.

"What's going on?!" Ember demanded, having to shout over the siren.

Eyes wide, Skulker looked up and met her gaze. "I don't know! Something's wrong... I don't understand."

Phantom grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I do." He said happily, as if the sudden chaos pleased him. "Nothing's wrong with your equipment, Skulker. It's telling the truth."

"What are you on about whelp?! There's no possible way-"

Phantom's hand shot out and fired a blue beam at the monitor, covering it in a thick layer of ice and causing it to fall silent. Then, the young ghost stepped forward and unfurled his other palm, which had remained closed until now. The contents seemed to be misshapen pieces of grey plastic stained with some kind of dark blue ooze.

His eyes danced in excitement, and for the first time, Skulker wondered if the boy had truly lost his mind.

"They're coming for us." He said, lifting his eyes from the contents of his hand to the ghost's metallic face. "They're coming for us, and we're all going to die."

* * *

Wait...what's this? **_Actual plot structure?!_** Preposterous!

Three cheers for morbid Danny! HIP HIP-

*Crickets chirping*

*Cocks gun_* I said_: **_HIP HIP-_**

_..._

Oh yeah baby, I'm back! Amazing how hard it can be to pick yourself up after a ghastly case of writer's block, no? I have the urge to break out into a song and dance. I dunno, I think it's just because I feel like this story is actually going somewhere. FINALLY! HOOORRAYYY FOR MEE!

*Cough, cough*

So much to discuss. So little time. I must be off to the world of dreams shortly, so I'll keep this brief.

Firstly, sorry for the long chapter, and the longer time between updates. I guess a long chapter is a good thing? Maybe?

...Whatever.

Ok, uh... so I have a few questions for people to answer in the form of a review, if that would be ok. Mostly so I can get some feedback, you know?

1. Things you found interesting? (Favourite part/ what's working for you)

2. Things you found boring/ dull? (Least favourite part/ what you're not enjoying)

3. Strong points in my writing?

4. Weak points in my writing?

5. Is the story still interesting? Or has it become boring?

6. Thoughts on plot movement?

Ok, thanks to anyone who bothers with answering any of those. I just wanted some feedback to help me improve, since I'm well aware that my writing definitely needs some enhancement. Please don't flame me though, and try and tell me at least one thing about the story that's positive, or else I'll probably think you all hate me and won't feel the need to continue. (You don't actually hate me, right? :P)

Next chappie will be quicker, 'cause vacation is coming up at the end of the week! (HELLS YES!)

(PS, sorry if it seems rushed, I edited this at 1am and wrote most of it at even later hours than that, so... it may seem a bit weird at parts.)

THANKS FOR READING!

-Laura-


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